Kami's Reward
by StormScythe
Summary: DISCLAIMER: I don't own Naruto, all rights go to Kishimoto. Naruto has beaten Obito, Madara, and stalled Sasuke long enough to end the 4th Shinobi World War in his favor, dying in the process. His reward? He gets to live his life all over again, however he wants, as a video game character! Intelligent!Strong!Naruto, Fem!Naruto, slight AU, better summary inside.
1. Death, Kami, and Philosophy

Summary: Naruto has beaten Obito, Madara, and stalled Sasuke long enough to end the 4th Shinobi World War in his favor, dying in the process. His reward? He gets to live his life all over again, however he wants, as a video game character!

Inspired by _Naruto: Legend Reborn_by Lambhuna, so go check it out. Wanted to take my own spin on the game world Naruto, and I plan on taking a rather different path with this than where I think he was going.

Intelligent!Strong!Naruto, Fem!Naruto, Pairings are undecided as of yet. Also AU: I am keeping events following along lines very similar to cannon at first. There are a few small things which change early on, but for the most part the changes which I will be making are later.

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 1: Death, Kami, and Philosophy

Naruto felt the kunai slam into the back of his head, and like a switch, the world went dark. '_Damn it!'_was his first thought. Actually, his first was '_Aw shit…,_' so technically '_Wait I'm still conscious?'_was his third. _'If I really have to sit around, floating in endless darkness for eternity, I'm gonna be soooo pissed.'_

Naruto had been fighting against Sasuke after the bastard had betrayed them…again. _'Seriously, why did I give him so many chances? …Huh? ...Kurama? You there?'_Normally the bastard would have had a scathing comment for him by that point, so Naruto figured the fuzz ball hadn't followed him into the afterlife.

Naruto hovered there for hours, or at least what felt like hours. Turns out it's rather difficult to measure time when you have absolutely no point of reference. Finally, he spotted what appeared to be a white dot rushing towards him. It resolved itself into letters and words as it approached, and then slammed to a halt in front of Naruto:

**GAME OVER!**

Naruto sighed at the sight. He'd failed. Not in everything, but in enough. The 4th Shinobi World War had been short, brutal, and bloody. The Akatsuki had been decimated by the time Pein fell to Naruto, and Obito-Madara had rapidly moved to all-out war in order to capture the remaining biju. The five great nations had allied themselves against the bastard, but it had barely been enough.

Somehow the bastard had manufactured an army that left the odds nearly one to one against the Shinobi Alliance, at least numerically. White Zetsu clones were actually rather pathetic fighters. Then Kabuto showed up, and started throwing every dead ninja and the kitchen sink into the mix via **Edo Tensei (Impure World Reincarnation).**

This had given the Akatsuki forces the muscle they needed to counter the Allied force's elite ninja, such as Kakashi, Gai, and the Sand Siblings. Of course, once word got out that they could only be brought down via sealing, it simply came down to a matter of immobilizing them. Then the Zetsus started morphing into people, so Naruto had bolted to the front lines in order to detect them. Naruto had been wiping the floor with Zetsus left and right, even helping to take down several of the strongest Edo-ninja.

Then Kabuto created Edo-Madara, and everything devolved into a chaotic shit storm, because everyone thought Madara was alive. But then there was an Edo-Madara dropping fucking meteors (plural) on everyone. Then Fake-Madara who turned out to be Obito revived the Juubi. Sasuke showed up, Obito-Madara got control of the Juubi, Edo-Madara got control of Obito-Madara, and Edo-Madara became REAL Madara, captured the Juubi, and activated the infinite Tsukuyomi. Sasuke and Naruto managed to resist its effects, and battled Madara.

Once Madara had turned into Kaguya, Naruto stopped even pretending to know what the fuck had been happening. They managed to seal Kaguya using the powers Naruto and Sasuke had inherited as the reincarnations of the Rikuudo Sennin's children. Naruto had been relieved, but then Sasuke had to go and start mouthing off about revolution and slitting the five Kage's throats before they recovered from the Tsukuyomi. They fought, and Naruto lost. The rest is history.

Naruto sighed, looking up at the massive words before him. '_Wonder if there's a way to speed things up?'_Naruto reached out and touched the words. The moment he came into contact with the letters they seemed to melt away, only to be replaced by the words:

**SCORE:**

**STORYLINE:**

**Childhood: SUCCESS! +50**

**Academy: SUCCESS! +50**

**Nami no Kuni: SUCCESS! +250**

**Chuunin Exams: SUCCESS! +250**

**Tsunade Retrieval: COMPLETE! +500**

**Sasuke Retrieval (I): FAILED! -1000**

**Kazekage Rescue: SUCCESS! +2500**

**Tenchi Bridge: FAILED! -5000**

**Immortal Duo: SUCCESS! +2500**

**Sasuke Retrieval (II): FAILED! -5000**

**Invasion of Pain: SUCCESS! +5000**

**Five Kage Summit: SUCCESS! +5000**

**4th****Shinobi World War: DIED! -10000**

**Subtotal: -2400**

**ALLIES:**

**Sasuke: Evil -2500**

**Sakura: Alive +1000**

**Kakashi: Alive +1000**

**Kiba: Alive +1000**

**Shino: Alive +1000**

**Hinata: Alive +1000**

**Choji: Alive +1000**

**Shikamaru: Alive +1000**

**Ino: Alive +1000**

**Neji: Dead -1000**

**Lee: Alive +1000**

**Tenten: Alive +1000**

**Iruka: Alive +1000**

**Konohamaru: Alive +1000**

**Jirata: Dead -1000**

**Sarutobi: Dead -1000**

**Haku: Dead -1000**

**Gaara: Revived +500**

**Tsunade: Alive +1000**

**Yamato: Captured -1000**

**Sai: Alive +1000**

**Subtotal: +2500**

**BOSSES:**

**Danzo: Missed! 0**

**Mizuki: Victory! +100**

**Zabuza: Victory! +100**

**Gaara: Victory! +100**

**Orochimaru (I): Failed! -100**

**Sasuke (Cursed Seal): Failed! -100**

**Sasori/Deidara: Victory! +150**

**Orochimaru (II): Failed! -150**

**Sasuke (Teen): Failed! -150**

**Kakuzu: Victory! +150**

**Pein: Victory! +200**

**Sasuke (Mangekyo): Failed! -200**

**Obito: Victory! +250**

**Kaguya: Victory! +250**

**Sasuke (Savior): DIED! -500**

**Subtotal: +100**

**Miscellaneous:**

**Failed to Become Hokage: -1000**

**Died a Virgin: -2000**

**Defeated Akatsuki: +1500**

**Failed to Rescue Sasuke: -1000**

**Failed to Save Itachi: -1000**

**Befriend Kurama: +1500**

**Discovered Heritage: +500**

**Died in Battle: -500**

**Enemies Defeated: 1,347**

**Subtotal: -553**

**TECHNIQUES:**

**D-Ranks: (2)(50)=100**

**C-Ranks: (1)(100)=100**

**B-Ranks: (1)(150)=0**

**A-Ranks: (2)(200)=400**

**S-Ranks: (1)(250)=250**

**Created: (2)(500)=1000**

**Subtotal: 1850**

**Total: 1497 Rank: Rookie of the Year**

**Dobe 1000 Rookie of the Year 1000-2500**

**Genin 2500-5000 Chuunin 5000-10000**

**Jounin 10000-15000 Sannin 15000-20000**

**Kage 20000**

'_Huh…I kinda sucked according to this__,__'_Naruto thought. _"Ah__,__ fuck it, the points distribution is totally skewed anyways.'_Naruto reached out and tapped the words again, and the words melted away and reconfigured.

**EXTRAS UNLOCKED!**

Naruto scoffed at that. "Fancy new Items! Great! I get cool stuff when I'M DEAD AND CAN'T USE THEM!" Naruto ranted angrily. "I mean, COME ON! Even if the afterlife is seriously set up like a scoreboard, implying that we can have a second play…through…" he trailed off as he considered the implications. "…HOLY SHIT!" He hurriedly continued reading:

**Action: Befriended Kurama!**

**By managing to get through to Kurama and befriend him, you are able to import his memories into any new play through!**

**Action: Oiroke no Jutsu!**

**By creating the Sexy Technique and using it to great effect, you have unlocked the female Avatar options!**

**Action: Become a Savior!**

**By making it to the final battle, and inheriting your full power as an incarnation of Asura, you have completed one of the requirements for unlocking the Rikuudo Naruto Avatar!**

**Action: Martyrdom!**

**By dying to in order to complete the game you have unlocked the Kekkai Genkai Option!**

**Action: Discovered Heritage!**

**By discovering the identities of BOTH your parents, you unlocked the option to receive your inheritance from them, which was lost in the original timeline!**

Naruto quickly read through the list of unlocked options, slightly confused but also intrigued. Some of these sounded really kickass. But the last entry truly captivated him. His hand slowly drifted out and brushed the text _'A link to Tou-san and Kaa-chan?'_Suddenly the text morphed again, this time revealing the words:

**Continue?**

**Yes/No**

Before Naruto could do anything, a brilliant column of light appeared next to him. What sounded like a chorus of angels could be heard. The light slowly faded revealing what appeared to be a young girl, maybe eight or nine, with minute feathered wings, wearing a single piece simple dress that covered her entire body from her shoulders to her ankles. She practically _screamed_ angel. Her face was shaped in such a way which seemed slightly childlike, but promised to grow into a surpassing beauty. But it was her eyes that captivated Naruto.

They shimmered with mirth and laughter, reflecting a light which wasn't actually there, and hidden behind them was a look that seemed to signal vast, endless, eternal knowledge. '_Who is she?'_Naruto wondered, before realizing he was staring. "A-ah, h-hi?"

The girl giggled. "Wondering who I am?" she spoke in a melodious voice. "I'm an aspect of Kami. Yup, THE Kami, the guy upstairs, the head honcho if you will."

"Oh," Naruto said, like it was the most natural thing in the world. Which really, given his day so far, it wasn't all that surprising.

"So, as for why I'm here! I'm an aspect of Kami, pertaining to entertainment. Basically, in order to manage being basically omnipotent and omniscient, we (Kami) split ourselves along the lines of a lot of different roles. I represent our fun loving side. I'm here because you are, for lack of a better term, interesting. Your story has near infinite permeability, and it's really quite the epic journey you go on.

"Furthermore, you did it! You won!" Naruto looked confused, hadn't he DIED? Hadn't he been killed by Sasuke? And wasn't his score, while not abysmal, still pretty bad? The girl giggled again before continuing. "See, you didn't actually NEED to survive. Sure you beat Sasuke in some outcomes, but in the one you pulled off, you held off Sasuke long enough for Sakura and Kakashi to revive the Kages, and then weakened him enough for the Kages to finish the job. In short, the good guys won thanks to your actions.

"Now, why does that matter? Are you familiar with the concept of a seesaw? The more weight you add to one side the more it tips that way. The universes function similarly. The more hatred, evil, and villainy, the more it tips towards Darkness, giving Akuma more power. More love and compassion, more power and influence for Kami, me…us…you get the idea! By getting the good guys to win, turning nine raging piles of hate into giant lovable guardians, and sealing Kaguya, you flipped your universe back into my court, when it was on the verge of falling to Akuma, possibly permanently. So you earned a reward!"

"Oh..." was all a dazed Naruto managed to squeeze out.

After another giggle fit at Naruto's expression, Kami continued. "So this is how we get here. We like watching your life. You, presumably, want to keep living. So you're going to be our entertainment for the next few thousand years. You get to live out your life, as many times as you want, with a whole bunch of perks you can unlock, if you press yes. But who wants to watch the same movie over and over again? Things will certainly be getting changed up. So here's your reward: first time through, we change NOTHING. The only changes will be due to the effects of your actions. You get 1 guaranteed no interference run to make your life as perfect as you can."

"What happens if I press no?"

"I wipe your memories; we skip the boring run and just start pumping you through whatever scenarios we can make up."

"O-oh. Okay…So really no choice there."

"Nope, not really."

"Aren't you supposed to be the good guys…guy?"

She sighed. "It's all a matter of perspective. EVERYTHING is subjective. Technically by wiping your memories, your soul is freed, so a version of you goes to heaven, and we can create a new version to be our toy. Sometimes they come out weird, though. One version that we tried this with, back while you were still in the timeline, still thought he was actually a Kami. That was awkward. So we're technically not harming you by doing this. That's really the key. Mortals like to make a big deal out of being 'selfless' and 'self-sacrificing.' Reality is more like 'don't be a douchebag.'" At this point they both laughed, the girl somehow putting Naruto at ease.

"Take perversion, for instance. A lot of people harp on it for being an evil trait. It's actually not. Humans are living beings with natural urges, and enjoying the physical form of the opposite gender is one of those urges. FACT. But ogling girls, peeping on them, and worse, molesters and rapists – they make women feel vulnerable, violated, and worse. If you look at an attractive girl appreciatively that's fine, go ahead and take a look. Just don't objectify women, don't go leering creepily and making them feel uncomfortable."

Naruto thought about it. _'Makes sense. I mean no harm, no foul right?'_"What about 'what they don't know can't hurt them'? And what about killing?"

Kami looked thoughtful. "Those are a bit more complex. As far as what they don't see, you always run the risk of being discovered, so you risk hurting them. Therefore from a karmic standpoint, it's still bad. As far as killing, it's harder to judge. You have to take your reason for killing into account, and who the person is. Killing a rapist to save his victim? Definitely acceptable. Mutilating an innocent in the name of science? Definitely NOT acceptable. Then it gets murky: experimenting on a convicted murderer in the name of science? What is the science for, saving lives? Developing power?"

"So it's not all black and white? Fighting a war can be necessary, even good, if it's for the right reasons?" Naruto asked.

"Everything is a shade of grey, even pure black and white. But we are getting FAR off track. Normally, telling you all this would be against the rules. But you're kind of, well, dead and removed from the time stream. You have an answer?"

Naruto looked at the two options before him. He could just move on, go to heaven, and let Kami have its fun with a different him, but… He had a chance to do some real good, and to get to make the people who he cared for happier than they were in the real timeline. He had a chance to protect them from the evils in the world… _'Damn it all. I really don't know when to quit do I?'_

Naruto's hand reached out before he could change his mind and slapped yes.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:** Sorry about the philosophy bit, but I always hated how Canon Naruto is a NINJA who basically refuses to kill. I respect pacifism, hell I feel sick to my stomach when I knock somebody else down, but come on some people just need to get shanked (see Kaguya, Orochimaru). And in fiction? Characters can afford to be a bit more aggressive, so I wanted to change up Naruto's standpoint somewhat.

**Edit (11/15/2014): **Spelling and grammar fixes.


	2. Kurama, and Character Selection

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 2: Kurama & Character Selection

Kami grinned at Naruto. "Good choice! Now, I'm going to head out now, places to be, things to do, people to see! But just to make sure you find everything okay…here!" As she spoke Kami held out her hand and a look of concentration scrunched up her face. Slowly forming was what looked for all the world to be a white **Rasengan (Spiraling Sphere)**. After it was completed, she lowered her hand and the ball stayed in place hovering at her waist height. "Your very own lantern spirit!" She chirped happily. "Actually, since Kurama can be carried over now, it's based on him."

"Based on Kurama?" Naruto was rather confused. "So, it's Kurama in Rasengan form?"

Kami looked at the lantern for a moment. "How did I never see that comparison?" she wondered aloud. "Well…yes basically. It will be the Kurama you remember from the timeline, all his thoughts and memories, only he will be able to access information on any menus you come across, and can explain how the system works to you. Anyways, I'm off. Later!" And with a flash of light, she was gone.

"So you're basically the guide? Sweet!" said Naruto, addressing the sphere. "What do I do first?"

A loud groan came from the orb. **"Damn it kit, what'd you get us dragged into this time? Furthermore why aren't you dead? Because I distinctly remember you getting decapitated."**

"Basically…I am dead. But Kami treats my life like a movie, and she wants a whole series. So now I get to relive my life, with all my memories plus a few new tricks," Naruto explained. "She set the whole thing up like a weird ass video game, I got scored on my previous life and did passably, but not really good. Plus side though, I did unlock a bunch of stuff, which I guess I can use in the next run."

"**Ugh…damn it. Why does my head feel like it's split in…oh. Huh. Well that's new."**

"Huh? What's new?"

"**The massive information dump I just got. So this is what it's like when all your clones release at once. Kami almighty. I take back every time I called you a wimp for passing out from this."**

"Wow, you admitting I'm not a wimp? Are you going soft on me fur-ball?"

"**So help me kit, I will rip you apart if you call me that again!"**

"Yeah, so…death threats don't really work on the dead…"

Naruto got the funniest feeling the fox was grinning. **"That's why it's not a death threat. Just imagine having to spend eternity in hundreds of pieces. All that pain…just like Hidan!"**

"Right," Naruto gulped. "So memories, watcha get?"

The fox laughed. **"Basically I'm your game manual. You're lucky I like you kit. I could make this soooo damn confusing…"**the fox laughed again. **"You have questions about the game, I can answer them, other than that, I'm pretty much just like I was before. I sleep in your gut and pretend the world doesn't exist."**

Naruto suddenly looked apprehensive. "You sure you're okay with this? I mean, I know how you hate being used. And we're basically super glorified gladiators at this point…"

He wasn't sure quite how, but Naruto was now certain he was sensing expressions from the fox/ball. Somehow he knew Kurama looked uncomfortable. **"Kit…DAMN IT! CUT IT OUT KIT! I'M NOT USED TO PEOPLE BEING NICE TO ME!"**Naruto smiled sadly. **"Look…I hate being used, but I'm fine with helping people I like. My siblings, the Rikuudo before he died, and now you."**The fox sighed. **"If I were to stay in the timeline, I'd probably just get slapped into some other Jinchuriki's gut the moment I reformed, you're pretty much the only friend the biju have and your dead. Here I get to help out one of my friends. Screw it all if Kami finds it entertaining. I'm here for you, not her…it…them…GAH that's confusing!"**

"Alright then. Step one is to get back into things. Kami says I get one chance at the original storyline. Which means I get one chance to make things right for EVERYONE. After that, who knows what they'll be throwing at us."

"**Allow me to clarify something. You get one COMPLETE play through. You can save your progress at any point in your apartment, and if you die, you can revert back to that point. You don't move on to the next game until you die sometime within the 4th****World War Story, once it starts, you can't load."**

"Hmm. So prior to that we get unlimited tries?"

"**Not quite. I'm only a guide not a cheat sheet, so I don't know where they are, but there are areas where we can't come back. We can save at certain places referred to as safe-houses, but if we die in certain critical fights, we can't load those saves."**Naruto nodded his understanding.**"Secondly, we get at LEAST one crack at the main story. Kami may not get bored right away, and give us another shot, or only change one small thing, like someone's gender."**

"Right. So we should plan ahead a little bit. Kami knows your better at that, but we don't want to fuck things over so badly we don't know what'll happen when."

"**Wait, you actually trust ME with the plan!"**

"Well I'll help. Besides, didn't you just say you were here to help me?" The fox…shook its head? _'Kami but that's weird.'_

**"I'm a rampaging engine of destruction!"**

"'Were' a rampaging engine of destruction right?" Naruto countered.

Kurama snorted and looked annoyed. **"Alright look. Screw planning. The entire point of this is to make the world what YOU want this time. Yeah you wanna make your friends happy and save the world, but don't stress about perfection. Point being, just off the top of my head, saving Sasuke the first time? That's gonna screw things ROYALLY!"**

"So…we say fuck it and screw with things to our hearts content?"

"**Not quite. Don't go insane, they'll just lock us up. Probably won't kill us, just give us therapy for the rest of our lives. And that would suck."**They both shuddered. **"Just don't hesitate to do better, simply because you don't wanna lose prior knowledge of events."**

"Right so how do we start the game?" As if on command a new series of text lines appeared:

**Main Menu**

**New Game**

**New Game+**

**Load Game**

**Scores**

**Extras**

"**Right most of this is self-explanatory. New game, starts a new game. New Game plus, we can't use cause you died in the 4th****Shinobi World War. If you ever live past it, then you can import that you into a new game and retain all jutsu, skills, and experience from that life."**

Naruto's eyes widened. Then he burst out laughing. Once he calmed down he noticed the fox's quizzical 'expression.' "I was just imagining the look on Orochimaru's face if we popped full biju mode on him in the Second Test. Or slapped him with a **Rasenshuriken (Spiraling Shuriken)****.** The fox chuckled.

"**Load game will allow you to return to previously saved data. If you die, you actually come back here. If a timeline is hopelessly screwed, e.g. you somehow ended up fighting Pein in Nami no Kuni instead of Zabuza, you don't have to keep getting your ass kicked for all eternity. You can just restart a new timeline. If you do want to keep going, hit load and you can pop back into any of your last three saves. Scores lets you review your stats from previous lives. And finally Extras, this lets you spend score points****from previous lives on things we can use in game, like legendary items, kekkai genkai, even paying to have some characters that died before out time return from the dead at some point. It also lets us view Achievements, will be mostly blank for now. By completing hidden actions in the world, we can get bonus score for the store, and we can review the list of what actions we have taken in the past here."**

"Alright. No biggie. Just aisle 12, world warping demigod powers…" Naruto joked weakly. "Can we actually afford anything in the store at the moment?"

"**Uh…nope. You kinda sucked so we didn't get a massive haul the first time through. Most things in there cost around 10,000 points. The smallest is 5,000."**

"What costs only five thousand points?"

"**Your apartment not sucking."**

"Oh." Naruto seemed to deflate. _'Damn living through my childhood several times is gonna suck. Maybe I can find a way around that eventually.'_

**"Oh and before I forget, all menus and pop-ups are tied to you mentally, you can will them to do things. So you don't have to go flailing around in front of people."**

Naruto focused on the New Game option, since he didn't really have any other choices. The menu molded itself to reveal a single option:

**Child of Prophesy: Naruto's Journey**

"**This is game mode selection eventually we can unlock other options, like living through Sasuke's path, or Kakashi's rather than your own. For now though we only have the one option so go ahead and choose that one."**

Reaching out again Naruto touched the text and it faded away. Suddenly he felt the sensation of falling. Looking down he saw a gray dot which resolved itself into a concrete floor, looking like something out of a wartime bunker.

Falling into the room, feeling a surprisingly light impact, given how long he had been falling, Naruto looked up to see Kurama dropping down behind him. Naruto quickly sidestepped and Kurama fell into the room in the exact spot Naruto had just been occupying. The ball of light hit the floor…and bounced. Naruto choked back laughter as the ball flew sideways, ricocheting off the walls twice before stabilizing and returning to floating at around shoulder height.

Naruto got the impression that Kurama was sitting stiff backed, with his tails neatly curled, and his nose in the air, exuding an air of 'I meant to do that.' Naruto gave up on holding back the laughter. He just rolled on the ground laughing. _'Ha ha…Kami, I thought only cats could do that! HAHAHA!'_

Naruto finally calmed down and stood back up. "Sorry Kurama, but that was hysterical." The fox growled lightly but there was no real malice in it.

'**_Damn it, the kit really got me good. Normally I'd shred a mortal for laughing like that, but with him, seeing him laugh makes me smile…ugh I'm going to barf.'_**__**"If you are finished making a fool of yourself, we can get down to business. We are now in the Avatar selection room."**As if his voice activated it, a wall suddenly warped and in its place was a door, through which an 11 year old Naruto walked in, followed by a fully clothed 11 year old version of his Oiroke form. **"As you can see you have two choices. Additional characters can be unlocked by actions taken during our lives, and or by buying some in the store. They're REALLY expensive though."**

"Why on earth would I want to play as a girl," Naruto asked.

"**Check their stats, all the avatars have different effects and back stories. These two are fairly similar since they are the most basic, but some of the advanced ones can really screw with your stats and story."**Naruto nodded acceptance of the fact. He almost asked how to check their stats when he had a hunch. He thought the word stats, and sure enough a window popped up next to the male avatar, who Naruto had been looking at:

**Uzumaki Naruto (Dobe):**

**_This avatar is the basic. During the attack of the Kyuubi, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves to seal the demon away inside of their son, Naruto. Wishing the boy to be seen as a hero, the Sandaime presented him to the village as their savior. However the villagers saw only the demon and showered the him with hatred and spite…_**

**Stats:**

**Physical: A**

**Intelligence: C**

**Chakra: S**

**Control: D**

**Traits:**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Object of Hatred**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**Yondaime's Child**

"Okay…so this is the timeline version of me. What do the different stats mean?"

"**They represent your starting capabilities,"**Kurama explained. **"Physical represents your physical capabilities, how strong and fast you are. Intelligence represents, how smart and perceptive you are. When you level up you gain stat points to distribute among your stats, and the grade you have in that area determines how many points it costs to increase a stat."**

"So Chakra would represent my reserves, and control would be my ability to manipulate chakra?"

"**Right, so you start with massive reserves thanks to yours truly, but you have abysmal control. These are increased slightly differently. You can't put points into them when you level up, you have to actively train them, by doing exercises."**

"I see…" Naruto shot the floating orb a funny look.

"**What?" the kyuubi queried.**

"Nothing, it's just…you're actually not that bad of a teacher. Anyways, let's check the other avatar." He looked at the female version of himself and sent the mental command to bring up the details menu. Startled at how quickly it became reflex, he realized it was rather similar to the way he commanded his **Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones)**.

**Uzumaki Naruko (Dobe):**

**_During the attack of the Kyuubi, Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina sacrificed themselves to seal the demon away inside of their daughter, Naruko. Wishing the girl to be seen as a hero, the Sandaime presented her to the village as their savior. However the villagers saw only the demon and showered the girl with hatred and spite…_**

**Stats:**

**Physical: A**

**Intellectual: C**

**Chakra: A-S**

**Control: C**

**Traits:**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Object of Hatred**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**Yondaime's Daughter**

**Perfected Construct**

"Hmm. So if I'm reading this correctly then the female me has more control initially, and slightly lower reserves? Wow that might actually be worth it. I might actually pass the Academy exam that way."

"**Pay attention to the traits as well. They aren't quite the same. The female avatar has another trait, Perfected Construct."**

Naruto looked at the list of traits. Sure enough there was an extra trait listed after the female avatars. He looked at the traits list and mentally ordered the details window to appear:

**Traits:**

**These are characteristics of an Avatar which do not develop continuously like skills, nor can they be trained like stats. A trait is a special ability or status which alters the fundamentals of the character's functioning. Avatars start with certain traits, and others can be developed or lost mid game during special circumstances.**

**Jinchuriki (Kyuubi no Kitsune)**

**Contained within the character is the Nine Tailed biju, the Demon Fox. Causes exponential growth of chakra reserves during childhood, and access to the biju's chakra and special abilities can be developed over time.**

**Object of Hatred**

**For some reason, many of the people near where the character lives dislike or hate the character. They are likely to make life difficult or outright dangerous for the character.**

**Resilient (Heritage:Uzumaki)**

**The character is preternaturally resistant to harm, either through a ruggedized body or rapid regeneration. In this case the incredible vitality of the Uzumaki line makes the character extremely hardy and difficult to kill, but provides no regeneration.**

**Yondaime's Daughter**

**Only child of the 4th****Hokage, Namikaze Minato. Female version. Allows the character the chance to learn any of Minato's signature or unique jutsu.**

**Perfected Construct**

**Since this avatar was created based on Naruto's Oiroke form, it is a perfected version of Naruto's female form. The character grows incredibly attractive, and physically is slightly superior overall to a standard human, giving slight advantages in almost every area.**

"Well damn. So this character is basically a super soldier?"

"**I wouldn't go quite that far. It says it's only a slight increase, meaning that it is probably a negligible boost. However, that combined with my chakra should boost the enhancement. And besides every little bit helps, and just a little bit of speed can be the difference between life and death."**

"I see. Is it weird that I'm seriously considering changing my gender?"

"**Kit there are surgical operations that are carried out every day to do the same thing, for the simple reason that people want to. Maybe it's just the fact that I'm a giant mass of chakra, and therefore can change my gender at will, but I really don't see it as all that strange."**

"Given the advantages…I think I'm going to go with this avatar this time through. I mean, for the most part it won't affect my ability to form friendships with the guys if the other girls of my generation are any indication, and it will actually improve my other capabilities. The only downside is I don't think I'm just going to suddenly adjust and like guys, which might get awkward. Then again I'm GOING to save Sasuke this time, and Sakura-chan will almost certainly pick him."

"**Sounds like a plan kit."**Naruto mentally 'chose' the Naruko avatar and found himself drawn forward and into the body. **"Now, the last step is through this door. This is as far as I can go for now, since I'm going to be dropped into my own body. When you pass through here you will arrive in a room where you can choose what options you want to use for the next life. After that you will be dropped into your body. Don't freak out if you can't contact me straight away. You forfeit all training once you enter the new timeline, including the ability to speak with me. You will need to train to regain that ability, just like all your jutsu."**

"Wait so even if I remember the jutsu I can't use it?"

"**Nope, you will need to be retaught the jutsu. All your skill with the jutsu will remain, but you will need to re-master the activation of the technique. Take****Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)****and the****Uzumaki Naruto Rendan (Uzumaki Naruto Barrage)****for instance. The moment you learn shadow clones you can use the barrage, since it's just an application of the technique, but you need to be taught to create shadow clones."**

"Got it. Well then, I guess I'll see you in a couple of years!" Naruto waved jauntily at the fox, and despite feeling slightly nervous, strode confidently through the door.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:**Another chapter done! As far as update speed goes I am going to say a chapter every other week is what to expect, so everyone will be pleasantly surprised when I do better than that. That being said, I may also horribly fail that when it comes time for finals week.

**Edit (11/14/14): **I fixed up some spelling and grammar, and I reworked the stats system a little. I also deleted some things that really weren't necessary. No real major changes here.


	3. Arrival

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_ 'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:** "Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: _**'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'**_

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

3. Arrival

Naruto walked through the door, which disappeared behind him, into another room looking like it was from a bunker. The room was long and relatively thin, and looked to be a library. There were racks for hundreds of scrolls, organized into two sections, the section on the right had a sign hanging over it with the word 'Modifiers,' while the left hand section had a sign that said 'Items'. However they were all almost completely empty.

'_According to Kurama this is where I can choose the options for my next life. So the right hand side must have options that aren't physical, and the left must be physical things I can bring in to give me an advantage.'_

Thankfully the scroll shelves had no backing, meaning she could easily spot the few scrolls on the shelves. She first walked to the two on the left, about a third of the way into the right hand section. Reaching the scrolls she saw that below each scroll, engraved into the wood, were engraved words: 'Kushina's Inheritance' and 'Minato's Inheritance.' It was all Naruto could do not to start cry then and there.

He reverently removed Minato's scroll, and opening it began to read aloud. "Placing this scroll on the active shelf will guarantee the revelation of Naruto's father's identity the night the protagonist becomes a gennin, and for them to receive their inheritance at that time." Tears were leaking out of the corners of her eyes now. She had only learned of her father's identity during the battle with Pein, and following the destruction of the village Danzo had been left in charge. Naruto had had it made EXCEEDINGLY clear to him by Kakashi-sensei not to reveal who her father was to Danzo. This meant that she had been unable to discuss her inheritance until after Tsunade-baachan's revival, and at that point everyone had been readying for war, and it just hadn't seemed appropriate. Then Sasuke went and killed her.

Opening her mother's scroll, she saw that it read exactly the same, substituting mother for father. This was a chance to regain some link to her parents that had been lost to him in her previous life. Finally stopping her tears, she wiped her eyes, and clutching the scrolls to her chest walked to the other section of the library. Reaching the last visible scroll, she reluctantly pocketed the other two scrolls. Lifting the scroll from the shelf labeled 'Kekkai Genkai,' she began to read.

'_Placing this_ _scroll upon the activation shelf will grant the character any one kekkai genkai. Any kekkai genkai is valid, however only one may be chosen. Note that characters who have other kekkai genkai as character traits may use this scroll to obtain a second kekkai genkai, Additional copies of this scroll may be used at the same time (they are available in the Extras: Store menu)._

_Note that conflicting kekkai genkai will not be valid choices. For instance only one doujutsu can be chosen, you may not possess both the Sharingan, and the Byakugan for instance. Similarly you may only have one body type kekkai genkai (Shikotsumyaku for instance). Note that chakra natures do not conflict, you may possess both Moukuton and Hyoton, for example.'_

Naruto dropped the scroll in shock, stunned by the implications. She vaguely registered that the scroll vanished upon contact with the floor and reappeared on the shelf, still caught up in imagining the possibilities. _'ANY kekkai genkai in the world. This is Orochimaru's wet dream. Actually this whole set up is, but still.' _Naruto idly wondered if she could create her own kekkai genkai as she picked up the scroll again, still in awe.

Naruko walked down to the opposite end of the room from where she entered. On the end wall she found another rack of scroll shelves and another doorway. The shelf was different however, in that each level only had room for three scrolls, and out of the five levels four were protected by cabinet doors which were securely locked. _'Probably another option to buy in the store' _Naruto surmised.

She placed each of the scrolls she was carrying into slots on the open shelf. As each of the inheritance scrolls touched the wood, a glowing green kanji for 'Active' appeared beneath them. As the kekkai genkai scroll touched the wood, a small window appeared: **Select Kekkai Genkai** was written across the top, with an entry field beneath it. Naruto reached her hand out to the window and as her hand came into contact with the screen, the words: **Kyōshin no Chi (Blood of Resonance)** appeared in the entry slot.

'_So I can create my own bloodline limit. There's got to be limits on that though, so that probably isn't as kickass as I made it up to be. I'll have to experiment.' _Below the words was an 'accept' button which Naruto pressed her hand to, and the menu disappeared and a green 'active' kanji appeared. Naruto smirked at the idea of Sasuke's reaction to Naruto having a bloodline ability. She couldn't decide if he would be pissed or shocked. _'I'm not gonna let you fall that far this time. I'm gonna save you before the darkness even gets to you.' _Naruto clenched her fist in determination, and strode through the final door.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Waking up in her new life was hardly what Naruko expected. First off, it was nowhere near as sudden as she expected. She was around two when she woke up. She was a little confused as to where she was at first, but in retrospect was grateful she hadn't had to go through infancy and remember it.

Upon waking up in the orphanage, she was promptly thrown out for the day, just like she remembered from the first timeline. They might not be able to keep her out at night, the Hokage would certainly notice if they did that, but that didn't mean she was welcome there during the day. That was fine with Naruto, she had things to do, and the orphanage wasn't the best environment to do them in.

Before she left however, she noticed that her bed at the orphanage read 'Uzumaki Naruko.' _'Well that takes care of not knowing my own name!' _It was thankfully similar enough that she would likely be able to adjust to her new name before anyone noticed anything.

Naruko ran through the village ignoring the hostile stares with practiced ease. She was significantly slower than she was used to, but that would come with time, and she needed to reestablish contact with Kurama fast. She may not be the smartest ninja ever, but even she knew that information was important. Going forward she needed access to the one person who could help her understand this game.

Naruko was just reaching the edge of the village when the rock smashed into the side of her head. She barely heard the scream of "Get out of here bitch!" around the pain. She tried to resist as she was roughly picked up by unfamiliar hands, but her child form was too weak to resist a fully grown adult.

Suddenly she dropped about a foot before being caught far more gently and cradled to a man's chest. Naruko groggily looked up at her rescuer as she regained her senses. Looking down at her was a Dog masked ANBU, with gray hair that swept unevenly to the left side of the man's head. Naruko didn't need to see the transplanted Sharingan to realize that she was staring at her past/future mentor Hatake Kakashi.

"Are you alright Naruko-chan?" the silver haired ANBU asked. Naruko nodded slightly, still having a slight headache. She looked around and saw around a dozen civilians spread out on the ground, several clearly in severe pain. "Why don't we move to somewhere a little less exposed."

Kakashi leapt onto a nearby roof and crouched down, setting Naruko back on her feet. He immediately began checking her over for wounds. "What were you doing running off like that? You know Hokage-sama wants to make sure you are safe, and ANBU can't do that if you run away all the time.

Naruko looked down at the ground. She had completely forgotten in her rush to get to work that she had ANBU guardians until her fourth birthday. The same year, coincidentally (or not), that she would be removed from the orphanage. "S-sorry Inu-san. I was just eager to get out today, and I forgot." Naruko stammered out the first excuse that popped into her head.

The ANBU sighed. "It's fine. Where were you headed today?" It seemed that being two was playing in her favor today after all. Time to capitalize on that.

"I was going to go find a clearing to practice in! See Jiji is the strongest in the village, and when I asked him how to get strong like him, he asked me why I wanted to be strong, but I didn't really know, so he told me to meditate on it, and when I asked him how he showed me. So I was gonna go meditate so I can find my reason to be strong, and then the villagers won't be able to hurt me!"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask. _'Naruko really is adorable. If only you could see her now…sensei.' _He nodded at her. "Well if you are training, how about we go to the training grounds?" he asked. Naruko squealed in excitement and bounced up and down. Reaching out he placed a hand on her shoulder and they vanished in a **Shunshin (Body Flicker).**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Naruko threw herself into training. She meditated constantly, working to bring about a connection to Kurama, using the excuse she was searching for her reason to become strong. She realized however, that that excuse was starting to wear a little thin.

She decided to try asking for something that would make her 'stronger,' but she had already tried the Hokage, so she asked her ANBU guards. There were four assigned to her, though only one was on duty at a time, if they had any other ideas for what she could do.

Kakashi, the only one she recognized told her to try playing shogi. According to the Nara clan, it helped to develop strategic thinking.

"Well, for a ninja, it's important because if we predict where our enemies will be we can trap them, and if they are trapped, we probably aren't dead."

"Huh? But Inu-san I'm not a ninja," Naruko rebutted confused. _'I haven't decided to be a ninja yet in this timeline, have I?' _Suddenly she had a suspicion.

"W-well the same thing applies. If you think ahead, you can learn to have escape routes ready, or can outsmart those who want to hurt you." The hesitation was slight, and only appeared once, but Naruko had been looking for (and hoping to see) it.

Internally Naruko was grinning like the cat that got the canary. _'He's already planning for me to be a ninja! Maybe he wasn't always ignoring me like I thought he was…' _"I see!" Naruko nodded thoughtfully, her face scrunched up in concentration.

Naruko's days rapidly fell into a routine. She initially tried to do physical training in addition to her meditation, but was quickly stopped by her ANBU guards who told her that strenuous training at such a young age could be very bad for her later, so she convinced them to play shogi with her, as per Kakashi's recommendation, but she rarely won.

It was only two short weeks later that she had the chance to set up an event that wouldn't have happened until years later. The Hokage found her at one of the training fields trying to meditate and restore her connection to Kurama. He signaled her guard down from a tree.

"Why, pray tell, is Naruko-chan in a restricted training field."

"Inu-taicho brought her here initially one day after she was attacked and allowed her to use the field. She was going to use a clearing in the woods, but he felt it too exposed. Since the majority of her attackers are civilians, he thought it prudent to bring her somewhere where there were fewer civilians around."

"Very well, an excellent recommendation. I shall see to it that she gets clearance to be here so that you aren't troubled by any of the more short sighted ninja. For now I wish to speak with the girl, so resume your station."

As the ANBU returned to the trees, the Sandaime approached Naruko. "Naruko-chan! How have you been?"

"JIJI!" Naruko shouted and ran at the man. Laughing he caught her and lifted her into his arms. "I've been meditating like you said, but it's HARD!" She pouted and the Sandaime laughed again. Naruko was glad she had thought to orchestrate the events she had described to Kakashi, otherwise this might have been awkward.

"Well then I think a break is in order. Shall we get some lunch?"

"RAMEN!" was the first thing out of Naruto's mouth. Realizing she hadn't established her addiction to the food yet, Naruko explained. "I got to try some instant Ramen the other day, and it was the bestest food EVER!"

Sarutobi nodded sagely _'Just like her mother in that regard.' _He sighed _'I guess the village is doomed to another ramen obsessed kunoichi, not that we really minded the first.'_ Setting Naruko down and taking her by the hand, he began to lead her out of the training grounds. "Well then I suppose I had better show you how good real ramen is, huh?"

"It gets better?!" Naruko asked?

The Sandaime laughed and led Naruko to the exact place she was hoping to visit: Ichiraku Ramen. Dinner was uneventful, Teuchi, the old man behind the counter, and his daughter Ayame who was still too young to work, but sat on the counter and conversed with the customers, were both just as kind as she remembered.

They were just starting their first bowls when the Hokage mentioned her name. "Uzumaki Naruko, we need to teach you some table manners." She turned to pout at the Hokage, so she nearly missed Teuchi straighten slightly, and spin around to stare at him hard. It wasn't a glare, nor hateful, just…searching. It seemed he found what he was looking for, as he relaxed, and seemed to be on the verge of tears, as a happy smile slid across his face.

'_He reacted to my name…the only other one with that name was Okaa-san, so…did he know her?'_ Naruko didn't bother to ask, she knew he would be blocked by the Sandaime, and her ability to notice such things would bring too much scrutiny. _'I missed so much when I was little, didn't I…I'll get it right this time I swear.'_

Continuing her turn she pouted at the Sandaime. Before she could retort with a line about the deliciousness of her dish, she was glomped by a brown haired blur, amid a scream of "Kawaii!" Ayame had entered the scene. Naruko panicked and rolled into a ball. She was far from a coward, but the past week had taught her that in her current state she could do nothing to an attacker.

Concerned for Naruko as her shaking had given away her fear, Ayame released her hold and shifted Naruto so she could see her face. Naruko was valiantly fighting back tears, but even so they continued to leak through. "Oh no! Whats wrong? I'm sorry! Did I hurt you? I didn't mean to hurt you!" Ayame ran out of breath and had to stop apologizing and hugged Naruko far more gently to her chest and began to run her fingers through the younger girl's hair, mumbling apologies.

The Sandaime sighed. "It's not your fault Ayame-chan. Naruko simply has a bad history with sudden contact," he explained. "She has not had a…easy life, thus far. And as an orphan, there are precious few who look out for her. "

Ayame might have been only six but even so, she knew that was wrong. She tightened her grip on the young girl in her arms. "Well then we'll just have to be some of those few. Right Tou-san?" She asked looking at her father.

"Of course. Naruko you are always welcome here, and if anyone is ever bothering you just run here okay?"

Naruko looked up at them, once again overwhelmed by the kindness of her first two precious people. Tears were streaming down her face as he spun, burying her face in Ayame's shoulder with a shout of "Nee-chan!" Ayame simply smiled happily down at her, as Teuchi and Sarutobi grinned at the cheerful sight before them.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

At the end of the day, after the Sandaime had walked Naruko around the park and played with her a short while, they stopped at the top of the Hokage monument, watching the sunset. Naruko knew the moment had arrived. It was time to make her intentions known to the Hokage.

"They might be precious few, but they are precious." The Sandaime looked at her in confusion. "The people who show me kindness. There aren't a whole bunch of them yet, but they are precious to me. I want to be there for them, as they are for me." She looked down at her tiny hand, and clenched it into a fist. Looking out over the village, she continued. "I want to protect them so they never go through what I have. That is my reason to be strong. And I want to protect this village, so that they'll see me with something other than hate. I will show them what it means to be precious to me, and understand that I'm not a monster!"

"It might take a lot to get them to see things your way, Naruko-chan…" the Sandaime didn't want to discourage her, simply for her to be realistic.

"Then I will be the greatest guardian this village could ever want!" Naruko wasn't backing down. She hadn't in her previous life, and she sure as hell wasn't going to start now.

"…The way you say you want to protect the village, it sounds like you want to be a Hokage," Sarutobi was almost brought to tears at the girl's sentiment. _'After all they have put her through…'_

"…Whatever it takes," was her only reply.

The Sandaime Hokage allowed a few quiet tears to run down his face as a bittersweet smile appeared. He was awed by the quite determination and strength behind the young girl's voice. Standing at her shoulders he could easily imagine the shadows of two of his greatest friends, one blond, and one redheaded. _'They will remember this day in history, as the day a Hokage was created.'_

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:** So, I'm trying to use some of the Japanese suffixes, but I'm still not 100% sure I have all the meanings right, so if someone sees an error and wants to point it out or else point me to a resource to learn a little more, it would be greatly appreciated.

Also, I was asked in a PM if I mind suggestions: I do not mind them at all! In fact I would love suggestions. I have a loose plot worked out until midway through the chuunin exams at this point, but I'm open to changing things up, right up until I start writing an arc. Unless it's a REALLY good suggestion.

As for the other reviews mentioning no yuri, sorry but Naruko WILL like girls, simply based on the fact that she has 16 plus years of liking them already, and it would take a while for that to be discouraged and turned to liking boys. And as much as I think Konoha is predominantly straight, I refuse to write a story with intolerant assholes in it, unless they die or change their minds rapidly, so they will be relatively accepting, and not discourage Naruko from liking who she likes. (Though they are obviously going to be assholes for other reasons). However as mentioned above, I'm not going to be writing lemons, so you don't have to worry about that too much.

Also side note, I've completely scrapped my previous ideas for pairings, so disregard anything previously mentioned in that regard, and feel free to PM with suggestions, as I don't really know who Naruko is going to end up with, if she even ends up with anyone at all.

**Edit 11/26/15: **Grammar and pronoun fixes. Oh and I explained why Sarutobi didn't react to her lie/story when she referenced it to him.


	4. Friends, Stats, and Mindscaping

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking: **"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

4. Making Friends, Gaining Stats, and Mindscaping

Over the past two years Naruko had grown incredibly mentally disciplined. She was amazed that she had even been able to contact Kurama in her previous life, given how much meditation she had done, and still been unsuccessful. She was beginning to worry it was related to age, which would really piss her off if she wasted this much time on meditation.

Naruko was starting to worry about what she didn't know. The game had started to influence her world, and she didn't even know how. She needed her guide back, and fast. The first complication had been during a visit to the park just about a year ago.

(Flashback)

She had been sitting in the shade of a tree watching several members of the Rookie 9 (as they would one day be known) play. Ino, Choji, Shikamaru, and Sakura were all there, though Sakura was slightly separated from the group. She didn't bother to emerge from hiding. She knew exactly what would happen, and as much as she understood, it still hurt and Naruko was hardly a masochist.

Even so, when she had seen a small pink haired girl get surrounded by the older boys, she had been unable to restrain herself. She sprinted across the playground towards them, hearing them taunt her. "Well, well, if it isn't little pinky!" "Stupid girl! This playground is for ninja kids!" "Go home you useless civilian!"

Naruko had heard enough. She wasn't there yet, but Sakura would one day become one of the most terrifying kunoichi in history. Furthermore she was one of the most compassionate people Naruko knew and didn't deserve this treatment. Besides, she was one of her precious people, and NOBODY messed with her precious people.

Naruko slid into the circle between Sakura and the bully in front of her. "Leave her alone you jerk." Naruko's hair unfortunately chose that moment to blow in front of her face, causing a moment of distraction while she contained it.

The boys laughed at the display. Naruko was told she was very cute, even for a small child, but that had some disadvantages, especially in the intimidation sector. She found herself shoved to the ground next to the huddled up Sakura. "Shut up orphan! You're just as bad as she is! This is a ninja village, and this park is for kids who are enrolled in the Ninja Academy. Like us."

The boys in front of them preened, like they were supposed to be impressed. Naruko knew just by looking at them that none of them were from clans, so they clearly misunderstood just what made someone a ninja. "Pfft. Is that supposed to be impressive? You're like, eight. You're still far from being a ninja." Naruko disabused him of his notion of superiority.

"Yeah, well we're still better than you! Besides who is gonna stop us? You? And what army?" All the boys laughed. In that moment Naruko had never wished more for her **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu (Shadow Clone Technique)**._'Damn it, and the ANBU guards got reassigned last week too!'_

"Hmm, well it's not really an army, but we could certainly help. And I'd hate to see what Daddy would do to the boy who hurt his little princess." The voice came from behind the largest of the boys. "He is the head of T&I." The boys all flinched. "So you know what T&I is? Good, now scram."

As the boys turned and ran Naruko looked past them and saw her future classmates standing behind Yamanaka Ino. "Thanks," she was proud that her voice was only slightly shaky. She was sure she had been about a minute away from a beating.

"No problem. We saw you stand up for your friend and came to help." Ino looked over at Sakura, who was still cowering slightly. "Whats your name?"

"S-sakura," Naruko could barely hear her. "You aren't going to tease me?"

"Why would we tease you?" asked Naruko, turning so she was kneeling in front of Sakura. Ino waved the others away before joining her a moment later. Sakura peeked out from behind her hands at them.

"Because of my forehead, or my pink hair, or because I like reading." Sakura still timid, but seemed to be giving them a chance.

"Now that's just silly. Why would anyone tease someone about their forehead, it's just bizarre. Well if you want them to stop, you just need to show them it doesn't bother you." Ino reached out with a ribbon she pulled from a pocket and tied Sakura's hair back.

Naruko had to admit the bow looked good on her. "As far as you hair goes, so what if it's pink? It's part of you, so be proud of it. It makes you unique, dattebane!" Naruko carried on where Ino left off. _'Hmm, seems like my verbal tick is back. But it's different. Must be an avatar thing. Great something else to ask the great furball whenever I contact him. I wonder if he has any ideas I can use to get stronger. Damn it Naruko, focus! You've been working on this.'_

Sakura looked at them with a timid smile as Ino arched an eyebrow at Naruko. "'Dattebane' huh? Where'd that come from?"

Naruko turned slightly red from embarrassment. "I dunno. It just sorta comes out sometimes." Naruko explained away her tick. "As far as liking reading, how would we know that? We just met."

Sakura blushed a little in embarrassment as she drew her knees to her chest and dropped her hands to her ankles. "Sorry…" she mumbled.

Naruko grinned at her. "Don't be! Nothing to be sorry about."

Ino grabbed both Sakura's and Naruko's hand and pulled them upright. "Why don't you two come join the others!" She beamed at them.

Naruko hesitated a moment, until he heard Sakura's stuttering reply: "A-alright."

'_I know I don't want to get hurt again but just this once…I want to be with friends.'_ "Okay!" said a now grinning Naruko.

They played for hours, running around the park, going down the slide, using the swings. It was the most fun Naruko had had in a long time. But the best was when the other's parents had arrived. Ino's father had come to get her, and seeing who she was with bent to ask her if she was alright.

"Of course Daddy! These are my new friends Naruko and Sakura. Sakura was getting bullied but Naruko stood up for her. But the other kids were being really mean, so we helped them, and now we're all friends!"

That gave Yamanaka Inoichi pause. He had been wary of the 'Demon Girl' for obvious reasons. He hadn't participated in any harassment, but he hadn't wanted to risk his little Princess. But she had apparently been standing up for a civilian child, despite how civilians treated her. If she could even make that distinction at her age.

Looking at the small girl who was half hiding behind a slightly confused Ino, he realized all he saw was a little girl. _'Of course there is no demon anywhere. It's Yondaime-sama's seal we're talking about here.'_His expression softened and he smiled at the girl. "That's wonderful! I'm glad to know that you kids are standing up for one another. Perhaps you can come over some time."

Naruko was about to start bursting into tears of joy. She simply nodded her head vigorously while smiling shyly, not trusting herself to speak. Inoichi grinned at her, and lead his daughter away with the other children. '_I'll have to point that out to the Choza and Shikaku. We've been acting the fools.'_

Behind him Naruko waved back at Ino before turning and sprinting away bursting with joy. Then the game window had appeared with a simple message:

**Gained: Precious Person Yamanaka Ino!**

**Gained: Precious Person Haruno Sakura!**

**Gained: Precious Person Nara Shikamaru!**

**Gained: Precious Person Akimichi Choji!**

Naruko mentally dismissed the message. She didn't know exactly what that meant, but they were her friends. That was all that mattered to her at the moment. She ran back to the orphanage delighted with her day, and more determined than ever to protect her home.

In retrospect she needed more details about what that meant, and why she hadn't seen such a message for Ayame, Teuchi, or Kakashi.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

After that day Naruko began hanging out with her new friends quite a bit. Not only had Inoichi allowed her to play with Ino quite frequently, he had probably talked with Shikamaru and Choji's parents as they were no longer forbidden from playing with her either, and the four of them were often together.

He had spoken with Sakura's mother after she saw Naruko at the Yamanaka's flower shop when she came to pick up Sakura. Inoichi had been cautious, but Naruko had be curious, and for obvious reasons underestimated. So she had naturally eavesdropped on the entire conversation.

Ino's father had carefully explained Naruko's situation and what it meant. There had at first been some shock and denial on Sakura's mother's part. She had evidently been lead to believe that there was no hope for Naruko to resist the Kyuubi's influence and therefore, she was nothing more than a time bomb.

That was when Inoichi pointed out that antagonizing a 'time-bomb' was foolish at best. Furthermore he pointed out that the fourth Hokage had been amongst the greatest seal masters of all time and the chances of his seal failing so spectacularly were minimal.

After that she had very little problem with Naruko associating with her daughter. Her worry was that Naruko was 'rough around the edges' and 'unlady like.' In short she was a tomboy, but she was also an aspiring kunoichi so that was excused.

Naruko still practiced her meditation, but she realized that it wasn't getting her anywhere. She needed to get in contact with Kurama but wasting time trying to contact him by doing the same thing over and over again wasn't working.

Sakura had introduced her to the world of books. Naruko still didn't understand why she enjoyed some of them, particularly the factual ones, but she had helped her find a genre he loved (action and adventure novels), and that got him hooked. Eventually Sakura got tired of answering questions about things that happened, such as why something was offensive to people in another culture, and started handing her books to read.

Then she understood why she read the factual books. She didn't really enjoy all of them, but they let her understand the things she did enjoy. And some of the random things she learned were interesting, such as this legend from a far off culture about the end of the world, and these four bad asses called the Horsemen.

Naruko was reading one such factual book, about how different weapons could be thrown, when it happened. She had finished reading a rather boring section about math-y stuff that basically came down to 'Heavier weapons need to be thrown harder, but the wind affects them less,' which he knew from experience but had never really thought about before. Then there was suddenly a new game window in front of him with the words:

**Training: Stat Increase Intelligence +1**

That had thrown him for a loop. Yeah he understood that he would be able to train and increase his skills but this made it sound like he was actually smarter. What did that entail? Would he learn things faster? Better? More complicated things? He needed answers, and he was still locked away from his only source of information.

(Flashback End)

Naruko sighed as she sat by a tree in the middle of little used training field. She still retained permission to use them despite not being a ninja. Nobody had thought to tell her she couldn't come there, and the Hokage saw no reason to say anything about it.

She had been meditating all morning and once again it had been fruitless. She sighed, _'At least all the meditation has helped me get my emotions under control. Once upon a time I would have been raging in frustration at this.'_She leaned her head back against the tree, closing her eyes she imagined herself falling backwards through the tree, and into her mindscape.

Five seconds later she felt herself laying in inch deep water. Without opening her eyes, she screamed out "SON of a BITCH!" Kurama thought it was fucking hilarious and burst out laughing. Opening her eyes she saw herself in a familiar sewer, pipes running along the ceiling, the aforementioned inch deep water, and the sealed cage dominating one wall.

Inside it sat the enormous nine-tailed form of Kurama, laying down with his head on his paws. Naruko jumped to her feet and sprinted between the bars jumping onto Kurama's nose and hugging it. "I missed you big guy. Been too quiet in here without you taunting me."

"**Aww is the little human spawn going soft on me?"**

"Can it asshole, don't ruin the moment." Kurama snickered at that.

The pair sat in silence for a moment, Kurama simply enjoying the break in his solitude, and Naruko relishing finally meeting back up with another person she considered a friend. Finally she sat up and broke the silence. "So I need some explanations."

"**Indeed. I recall two events which will need some explaining. First is the message about Precious People as I recall."**Naruko nodded. **"Very well then. Simply put your precious people are the people you care about, and interact with the most. This is reflected in that each precious person has a hidden statistic, which not even I can see, which measures your relationship with them. The more you bond with them, the stronger they will become."**

"So not everyone can become a precious person? I guess explains why Ayame, Teuchi, and Kakashi didn't get added. Kinda disappointed though."

"**Ayame and Teuchi didn't get added, no. They aren't fighters so the system doesn't affect them, therefore they won't get listed. Kakashi however actually did. You were just too disoriented to notice, and the window self-dismissed after a moment."**Kurama corrected her.**"If you ever want to check on the status of your precious people just check that menu."**

"Wait, there are menus?" Naruko was shocked. That might have been useful. Scratch that it WOULD have been useful.

"**Correct. All of them are contained within your mindscape. They are located on the wall of this room**." Kurama pointed with a tail to a wall just outside the cage. Where there were three white boxes next to each other, each about the size of Naruko's person and contained several boxes and some writing. **"The one on the left is the People menu. Through it you can look at their overall stats, where you last saw them, and what abilities you know about. It won't reveal anything you haven't already noticed though."**

Sure enough upon examining the screen, Naruko saw a list of names, including everyone from the park, and Kakashi. When he focused on a name it brought up a screen filled with their personal information, a list of skills, which was blank, and a couple of item slots.

"**Next, in the middle is the Story screen. At the moment this one is pretty useless. Later on it will contain information about what is happening around you, so you can determine where you want to go, and what tasks you want to complete. Unfortunately as a small child, your information is limited, so this screen is too.**

"**Finally we have the character screen. Here you can access your character stats to level up, equip items, and view skills. You can only have three items equipped at a time. Note that only unique or legendary items can be equipped, like Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword. You don't have to worry about standard Kunai or Shuriken. You can also carry and use additional legendary items, but they won't provide any stat bonuses. Again using Kisanagi as an example, you could carry it around unequipped, stab someone with it, and they would be poisoned, but you wouldn't gain the natural resistance to it's poisons, nor the ability to telekinetically control it without first equipping it."**

Kurama paused for breath, and Naruko looked over the menu. He could see a representation of himself, the three empty slots below the '**Items**' heading, and a list of his skills and stats. He was curious about those but first: "So if I can carry four weapons, and as long as I'm in here time pretty much stands still, what is there to keep me from carrying around a dozen legendary weapons, and just equipping whichever one I need mid-fight?" she asked.

"**Good thinking, but you can't equip or unequip items during combat."**Naruko looked disappointed. **"But that's not too much of a worry. Legendary items are incredibly rare and potent. Three should be more than enough and the chances of you finding many more than that are relatively slim, let alone getting your hands on them."**

Naruko nodded her understanding. "Then about that stat increase?"

"**Right. I mentioned before that there were skills and stats remember?"**Naruko nodded. **"Good. Now you can increase them by training. Skills are the simplest. Simply practice whatever the skill is. Unfortunately you can't really train most of them yet, since you don't have you chakra unlocked."**Naruko shot him a sly look.**"You'll need a human teacher for that sorry. You need chakra to force open your coils, and my chakra would make your current body explode. Otherwise you'll have to wait until they open naturally. Not to mention you would immediately be under suspicion if you randomly unlocked your chakra."**

"Why would your chakra make me explode? It never did before."

"**You need to condition yourself to handle my powers again. Your new body isn't fully accustomed to having chakra as potent as mine in your system, and even with conditioning there will be limits. You need to build back up to the amount of chakra you could handle before, and to access the full chakra mode you used before, you will need to beat the darkness within you again. The only places I know of to do that are in Kumo like we did last time, and Uzushiogakure, homeland of the Uzumaki. But as you know, it was obliterated during the 3rd****Shinobi World War."**

"Well that sucks," Naruko grumbled. "I was really hoping to use chakra mode to show everyone I was in control and not a threat. And also that we were totally badass. Then I could introduce you and start making peace between the biju and humanity."

**Kurama laughed "Nothing's quite that easy kid. Anyways, stats are slightly different. All stats affect your skills. Strength affects physical force and therefore is important for taijutsu and weapon skills. Agility affects your coordination and speed, so it affects pretty much everything, either through movement speed, hand seals, or your ability to aim. Intelligence actually affects the least skills, only genjutsu, fuuinjutsu, and iryoninjutsu really, but it also allows you to memorize things faster, analyze things better, and most out of system skills as well."**Seeing Naruko look confused, he explained. **"Things like cooking, or sewing. Useful, but the chances of them affecting your journey much are slim to none."**

"**In order to increase your stats, you simply need to perform related actions. You know, lifting weights for strength, running for agility, reading books for intelligence, etc. There are also special boosts that can be found throughout the world, either by performing actions or finding hidden areas that will provide boosts."**

"What do those boost look like, and how do I find them?"

"**They vary. It's not like a real video game where they glow, or have symbols floating above them. But say you find the entrance to one of Orochimaru's old lairs. The act of finding it would reflect on your perception, and therefore grant you a boost. Similarly reading a scroll of lost knowledge would increase your intellect."**

Naruko nodded. She finally felt like she was making progress again. And she wasn't even in the academy yet. She could do it! She could change everything! She smiled happily back at the fox. _'Kinda stinks that he has to live in a sewer though.'_She mentally groaned at her own pun. _'Maybe there's something I can do about it.'_ "Out of curiosity, why does my mind look like a sewer?"

Kurama looked sheepish. **"I kinda did this to screw with you back when I was first sealed. You didn't have the willpower as an infant to set up your own mindscape, so I made it look like a sewer so you would question your own mentality when we met. Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, that went right over your head. But now that you have the willpower to mold your own mindscape, I can't anymore, so it's been stuck like this."**

"So I can just will it different?" Kurama nodded. He started to say something else as Naruko grinned and closed her eyes focusing. He just fell silent in shock as the room distorted around them and suddenly they were in a wide open field. A small house stood nearby a grove of trees, with a small garden alongside. In the distance mountains created a ring around them, while closer to them the woods formed the boundaries of the field. The gate melted away and flowed into a single shackle around the fox's left hind paw. Kurama looked around in awe.

"**Damn kit. It usually takes people ages to rebuild their mindscapes. You've got some serious willpower going for you."**

Naruko grinned up at the fox. "Well I have spent a good portion of the last two years meditating. And it's the least I can do. Besides, for me will power will never be an issue when I'm helping one of my precious people." Kurama took a full minute to get the import of what she had just said.

When he did, he looked shocked and thoughtful. He looked hard at her, directly in the eyes. He wasn't glaring but he looked like he was trying to stare her down. Inside his head was a maelstrom of emotions and thoughts. It was incredibly confusing, until one thought surfaced **_'Heh Naruto was an appropriate name. 'Maelstrom' indeed.'_**__She was utterly unpredictable and threw everyone and everything around her into chaos, and they all came to love her for it. **"A precious person...huh. After all this time, I have a precious person again."**

Naruko hugged Kurama's nose again, and he closed his eyes in contentment. They stood there for a long moment, before Kurama opened his eyes. **"Don't expect me to go all soft on you brat. I'm gonna push you so hard…I haven't had anyone care about me since the Rikuudo Sennin. You may be a damn brat but you're MY brat now."**

Naruto simply grinned as a new window appeared in front of her:

**Gained: Precious Person Kurama!**

Naruko looked him straight in the eye and simply stated: "Just like always, we're in this together. We're partners, right Kurama?"

'**_Hagoromo-jiji was right. I really did find a kid that could change everything. Though I don't really think even he understood quite what he meant.'_**__Kurama grinned back at Naruko. **"So what's first…partner."**

It wasn't a direct acknowledgement, but it was the closest Naruko was going to get, and she realized it. Kurama still had his pride as a biju after all. "Well we can't really do much till the end of the Academy so I guess we can start training what we can of my stats. We need to be ready if we're gonna make a difference this time."

"**I'm not so sure. Remember the scores you got after you died? Each segment of your life had a score, and a status. The only one that said complete was the trip to find Tsunade, and apparently if an event was marked 'Complete' you got the best possible result. All the others were marked as either 'Success' or 'Failed' which means it could have gone better."**

Naruko thought about it for a minute. "So there's something we can change for the better in every section of my life. Any ideas what they might be."

"**Not really. The only thing I can say is that they will be big. Little things like making more friends sooner wouldn't be it, so it's not that. We need to think of every major event we can for each segment and make the best effort to change them for the better."**

"For most of those that shouldn't be too hard, they were relatively short periods, or even singular events."

"**Right but let's focus on your childhood for now."**

"All right. Well let's see then. I'm a little iffy on history, but the only major events I can remember from my birth to when I entered the Academy, which is the next arc, are you attacking, the Uchiha massacre, and…oh shit Hinata's attempted kidnapping!" Naruko screamed out. "Neji's dad died, because of Kumo demanding reparations!"

"**That would certainly be big enough. Hizashi was a major influence on his brother, and the whole thing was a major international incident, when will it happen?"**

"That's the problem. It happened on the same day as Hinata's fourth birthday…which is next week!"

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:**So I kinda had a lot of free time, and after I finished the last chapter I just got on a roll and kept writing. Minor cliffhanger, but not too bad. Other than that, no new developments. Sorry for posting and then taking it down, but like, 20 min after I posted it I realized I needed to change some things so I didn't cause myself problems later.

Reviews are awesome, love the love you guys are showing me. Keep 'em coming I love to hear feedback.

**Edit 11/26/14: **Minorgrammarfixes. This is like the one chapter I haven't had to fix anything in yet. I really need to get better at proofreading…


	5. The Hyuuga Affair

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking: **"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

5. The Hyuuga Affair

Naruko jolted out of her mindscape into full on panic mode. This was big, this was HUGE. The whole reason she came back was so that she could help her friends. Neiji was her friend and so was Hinata. Neiji would certainly be better off with his dad around, and maybe Hizashi could be an influence to give Hinata some slack. Hell maybe nearly getting kidnapped at the age of four was part of what made her so timid.

'_Damn it, DAMN IT, DAMN IT!'_Naruko started pacing around, thankful for the isolation of the training field as she mentally swore. _'I'm still stuck in an untrained child's body, and I have zero access to chakra or jutsu. There's no way I could stop a wounded genin, let alone an elite Jounin of Kumo.'_

"**CALM DOWN KIT!"**Kurama finally managed to break through her tirade and get her attention.

'_You can speak to me out here?'_

"**Of course, now that the connection between us has been reestablished."**Kurama calmly explained. **"Now FOCUS and THINK, like I know you have been training to do. What is the first step of making a plan?"**

'_Figure out the goal right. The goal is to stop the kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata.'_

"**Is it though? Remember, Hisashi stopped the attack last time but he killed the attacker. That's what caused the major problems."**

'_Right. So then I have to prevent the death of the kidnapper. God I never thought I'd think that!'_Naruko took a calming breath. _'So then I don't have to beat a jounin one on one. I just have to make sure he doesn't die. Simply alerting the authorities of the attack won't work, I have zero evidence, and I'm the village pariah. Preventing Hisashi from catching him wouldn't work either, there isn't any guarantee that he wouldn't get away with Hinata. Traps maybe, I have all my pranking supplies, but I deliberately don't keep anything that would hurt anyone.'_

"**Why don't we go take a look around the compound, maybe we can spot something that will give us an idea."**Naruko nodded her acceptance of the idea and took off between the trees.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Arriving at the Hyuuga compound, Naruko immediately revised her estimation of the Kumo kidnapper's skill. The place was, quite literally a fortress. Thick walls, only one gate, guards everywhere, and all of the buildings arranged to give dominating fields of fire from every rooftop. Even ignoring the fact that all of the guards had 360 degree, x-ray vision it would be almost impossible to get in or out undetected. That the jounin had made it to Hinata's room without detection was worthy of respect.

Naruko worked her way around the compound doing her best not to be spotted. She might not be an actual enemy but many people wouldn't take that as an excuse, and she probably looked like she was spying. Crouching down in a back alley, a block away from the compound. Naruko swore. She had no idea how to continue her planning, because the second part of a plan was to gather information. But the only route she had to get info was a dead end.

Based on what she did know was that the attack would occur the same night as the festival, and that the kidnapper was an important Kumo jounin. Furthermore she knew that only she and Hisashi were guaranteed to react in time to the kidnapping, but neither of them could stop the attack. Her because she was a child, and Hisashi because he would kill the kidnapper.

So that left trying to bring additional people into the loop. But as the village pariah, with no proof, she would never be listened too. Hell, unless the Kumo jounin was a total ass for the entire previous portion of his stay, he would probably be liked more by the villagers.

Naruko had considered attempting to spy on the Kumo jounin, but he wasn't due to arrive until the day of the event, and she couldn't risk waiting that long. Furthermore, they would almost certainly be on high alert, and would immediately spot her spying on them. And that would get her killed.

'_Damn it, I'm no good at this part of things! Where's fucking Shikamaru when I need him?'_Naruko grumbled to Kurama.

Kurama sighed. He couldn't fault the kid for her frustration, he understood all too well how it felt to go from devastatingly powerful to powerless. **"Remember brat, there is always more than one path to an objective. If you cannot go through an obstacle, go around it, or over it. If you cannot convince someone to do what you want them to, force them to, or do it yourself."**

"So I should fight the asshole myself!?" Naruko asked, in her shock forgetting to speak mentally.

"Hey what are you doing back there you de-," the civilian shouting at her was hushed by one of his fellows.

"Remember the law!" Turning back to the ally Naruko was hiding in "We can see you in there, you bitch! Get out of here before we make you!"

The now growing mob of civilians cheered for the sentiment before starting forward to flush Naruko out. Swearing internally Naruko spun and dashed off, out the other end of the alley and away, before the crowd could build up much momentum.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Several more days passed with Naruko returning to the Hyuuga compound, attempting to gather information which might be useful. Every day however she was chased off by a mob of civilians. They were getting better at spotting her too, which was worrying.

Despite the fact that the Hyuuga lived in a supposedly military district, which was dedicated entirely to Shinobi housing, more than a decent number of civilian families had worked their way into the area. They were either the families of retired ninja or were 'planning to enroll their children in the academy.' Thus they wanted their children to grow up with the clan kids.

That never really worked since the clan kids were usually in their compounds training, or else playing in parks outside of the district anyways, so it was a foolish notion. Especially since most of the families simply wanted to marry into the predominantly rich clans. Foolish or not, the end result was that there were a lot of civilians in the area who hated Naruko.

Many of the Shinobi at that point were well aware that the Sandaime would cause serious bodily harm to any ninja that attacked Naruko. Sure some of the foolish idiots tried attacking her, but the majority left her alone. The civilians however were relatively untouchable to the Hokage, since he couldn't just start executing whoever he wanted. There were laws in place to protect Naruko, but with massive mobs of hateful civilians, there were usually enough 'eyewitnesses' to protect Naruko's attackers

Thus the day of the Kumo delegations arrival came, and Naruko still didn't have a plan. She was laying on the rooftop of her apartment complex watching the parade as the delegation came through the gate and listening to the music.

'_Damn it! I can't give up! Think about what Kurama said. If you can't go through something, go around it. Well I'm not really trying to go through something so that doesn't apply. If you can't convince someone of something, force them to do it, or do it yourself.'_Naruko sighed. _'I can't do it myself. Maybe if I had_**_Kage Bunshin (Shadow Clones)_******_and_**_Henge (Tansformation)_**_I could pretend to be the guards and stop him, but if he called my bluff I'd be screwed. Forcing others to do it? I need to get the guards involved but they usually ignore me. The only time they even interact with…me…is when…"_

Suddenly Naruko was upright and moving fast across the village. She had a plan.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Later that night, Naruko was crouched down outside the ANBU headquarters. She knew, based on her memory and training that the attack would likely occur at around 3 AM. Enough time for most people to fall asleep, but too early for early risers to wake up and spot trouble.

That being said, Naruko didn't know when exactly the attack would occur, nor where precisely Hinata's room was in the compound. So rather than simply getting a few guard's attention, she was gonna get a whole lot of attention, and flood the place with ninja.

At 2:00, she reached down and yanked on a string lying next to her. All along the edge of the rooftop, the prebuilt launchers went off and lobbed water balloons high into the air, across the street, and down onto the ANBU headquarters. Now a wet building would hardly be a prank worthy of Uzumaki Naruko, Konoha's Prankster Queen. But these balloons weren't filled with water, but an extremely vibrant pink paint. Naruko would later claim that the color scheme was inspired by Sakura's hair.

And several of the balloons were aimed at open windows.

Naruko had chosen the ANBU headquarters for two reasons. First they were always on duty, so she didn't have to worry about there being no one there like she would with the jounin lounge. Second, the ANBU were the best, and would therefore immediately notice anything else out of place during the chase, and professional enough to follow up on it immediately.

Hearing the screams of outrage Naruko stood up to start her performance. "HAHA! I got you again, suckers!" Giggling like mad the girl took off across town towards the Hyuuga compound. She had set a route up in advance that gave her enough room to escape the ANBU, and took her on a circuit around the compound. Hopefully they would spot something during the chase, but if not she was planning on getting cornered right in front of the gates, causing the ANBU to be stuck in the area for a while, so they would hopefully spot them then.

Leaving a careful trail for the ANBU to follow she moved across town. It still took her close to 20 minutes before she reached the Hyuuga compound, and by that point she had accidentally knocked over about a dozen drunks who were now chasing her as well, rounding up a mob of civilians as well. _'Fantastic. I'm in for a beating after this, but the ANBU will be stuck in the area for a while and the civilians guards are definitely going to be on alert.'_

She had rounded the second corner of the compound when she saw the ANBU team drop down in front of her. They were led by a thoroughly amused, annoyed, and pink Kakashi. "Inu-san…" Naruko began nervously. _'Shit, if they weren't following me that closely, then they probably didn't circle the compound. Shit, shit, shit!'_

Kakashi chuckled. "Now, now Naruko, that wasn't very mature. You were doing so much better with your pranks," he admonished her. "They were getting tasteful and funny, things that could be easily fixed, but that could have cause serious problems. You can't just go pranking important buildings like-"

He stopped as a Kumo jounin with a sack landed between them. A wiggling sack. He saw the ANBU looking at him. "How in the name of-HURK!" The man was cut off mid-sentence as two of the ANBU slammed into him, the first sweeping his legs, the second kicking him in the face.

As he stumbled he dropped the sack which Kakashi caught swiftly, and opened it. Inside was the bound form of Hinata. Kakashi looked over at the now unconscious and bound Kumo-nin, and then back to Hinata. "Son of a…" he growled out. _'If we hadn't been chasing Naruko right by here, he might have gotten away.'_Kakashi spun around to search for Naruko, only to spot her hurrying down an alley trying to get away from the mob that was still chasing her.

'_Damnit. I'll have to follow up on that later. For now though, we have to deal with this bastard.'_He liked Naruko, she was the last connection he had to Minato-sensei, and he would give her the benefit of the doubt. But it was just too lucky that she had lead them to the exact right spot at the exact right time.

Twenty minutes later an exhausted Naruko was leaning against the wall of an alley as she panted. She had barely escaped the mob that was chasing her, and even so she had taken several blows from thrown rocks and bottles.

After catching her breath she began her trip home, limping because of the bruises. _'Kurama, you wanna heal those buddy?'_she called out to her tenant.

"**I'm working on it, but with the amount of chakra that I can safely release into your system it's gonna take a little while."**Kurama answered.

Naruko groaned. The plan had been a disaster. After leading the ANBU team on a chase she had been planning on leading them into another barrage of paint filled water balloons to finish off the prank. That would have given her an excuse as to why she led the ANBU to that area, but the ANBU had cornered her, and then the Kumo-nin had dropped right on top of them. Talk about suspicious.

Naruko had made it halfway home before she was suddenly lifted into the air and deposited on a nearby roof. Crouching there was a still pink Kakashi. "Inu-san…" she began.

"Calm yourself. I'm not mad, not anymore. I don't know if you'll understand the implication, but catching that man alive…Well that probably prevented an international incident," Kakashi sighed. "Now I know you, and don't suspect you of anything, but just to protect you from those who would accuse you of foul play, I need to know why you were leading us there."

"I-I was leading you guys to another set of water-balloon launchers." Naruko sighed in relief that it was Kakashi who found her. "I was practicing what you said, about planning ahead, and anticipating people's actions. I predicted where you would go and tried to trap you."

Kakashi burst out laughing. "On anyone other than ANBU that plan would probably have worked. But I thought you weren't a ninja?"

"I'm not. Not yet anyways, but someday I'm gonna be the greatest of the Hokages! Then I'll protect the whole village, dattebane!" Naruko was shouting by the end. Kakashi couldn't help but smile behind his mask.

"Well, you certainly made a good start tonight," said the Sandaime, startling Naruko. Beside him Hyuuga Hiashi landed on the roof as well.

"Jiji!" Naruko gulped nervously, then hid behind Kakashi.

"We are going to have a discussion young lady, about your actions tonight. Pranking ANBU headquarters is simply not acceptable." Sarutobi began. "But given the benefit in the end I think we can grant you a little leeway. You will however, still face consequences."

"Yes, jiji," Naruko said dejectedly. _'I guess getting away scott-free was a little too much to hope for.'_

"Now, Kakashi, please escort Naruko-chan to the orphanage." Kakashi nodded. Placing a hand on Naruko's shoulder, and forming a half-ram sign with his other hand, they vanished in a swirl of leaves. As Naruko fell asleep that night, she dismissed another game message:

**Event: Stat Boost Intelligence +3**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

The days following the Hyuuga Affair were incredibly boring. Though the Hokage was upset, given that the she had paint bombed a major government building. She didn't mention that she had set up the entire thing in one day, directly under the ANBU's noses however.

As a result she spent the entire day scrubbing paint off the walls of the building. Thankfully she had made sure she used the water based paints. That was one lesson she learned from her pranking in her previous life: Oil based paints did not come off easily.

After the fourth day she was finally finishing cleaning the building when she heard someone stop behind her. Turning she saw a woman, clearly a Hyuuga judging by the eyes, with long navy blue hair, which fell to her lower back, and dressed in the traditional robes the Hyuuga favored.

"Yes miss, can I help you?" Naruko was on thin ice with a lot of people for this prank, and she didn't want to antagonize a lady who wasn't openly hostile.

"Yes, my daughter…oh Hinata, stop hiding!" The woman dragged a small girl out from behind her. "This is my daughter Hinata. She insisted on thanking you for your prank the other day. It saved her life."

Naruto laughed nervously. "Heheh. Please don't mention it. No really don't mention it, the ANBU guys are still kinda ticked at me. They have no sense of humor and seem to really dislike the color pink now."

The woman smiled kindly. "Even so, Hinata dear?"

"A-ano, I just w-wanted to say thank you…" Hinata trailed off. "P-pulling t-tricks on ANBU must have been s-scary." She clutched her mother's robes tightly partially hiding behind them.

"Well, it's not like they really wanted to hurt me. Besides it was just Inu-san that was after me, and I've known him for years." Naruko explained.

"You make it sound s-so easy. It must be nice to be br-brave." Hinata replied.

"Well for me, it's all practice for my goal. I want to become Hokage and protect this village, so anything that I can do to get stronger I do. Even if that is pranking ANBU to test my trap making and evasion!"

"I s-see. I w-want to be brave l-like that. So that I can make father proud of m-me." Hinata lowered her grip on her mother's robe no longer hiding behind it. She still held on but it was a loose hold not a death grip.

"I'm sure your father is proud of you. He probably loves you a lot and just wants you to be strong enough to be safe. To be strong enough to show the world what he sees in you."

"H-how do you k-know that he thinks that?" she asked. She hadn't realized it, but she was now standing fully upright, without relying on her mother.

"Well, that's what fathers are supposed to do right?" Naruko's hand went to her stomach over her seal, remembering the chakra imprint of her father. "They are supposed to have faith in and support their children. Well your mother seems like a nice lady, so I doubt she would stand for your Otou-san being a terrible father, right?"

"H-hai! I guess I never thought of that. A-ano, would you like to play sometime?" Hinata almost passed out for a second, but she didn't.

"Hahaha! I'd love to Hinata. I can introduce you to all my friends!" Naruko agreed enthusiastically. "As long as your mother is okay with it," said woman smiled softly and nodded her agreement.

"I-I'll see you later then!" Hinata turned and left with her mother. _'I did_ _it! I made a friend! And I didn't pass out!'_

Beside her, her mother was smiling softly. She had never seen her daughter quite so happy. _'Naruko dragged her out of her shell in just one meeting. Perhaps such a friend is exactly what Hinata needs.'_

Behind them Naruko idly dismissed a game window as she returned to scrubbing:

**Gained: Precious Person Hyuuga Hinata**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Several hours later, after Naruko had finished scrubbing the ANBU building and formally apologized (again) to the head of the garrison, she lay down on her bed back in her apartment. Closing her eyes she felt herself fall backwards into her mindscape.

Landing on her feet she grinned up at her partner as he snoozed on the grass. "Hey big guy, mission accomplished!"

"**I saw," **Kurama yawned.** "Now we have a little bit more time to prepare. You should probably look over your stats and decide what to train in."**

Naruko nodded and wandered over to the side of the cottage where several large scrolls hung down the side of the building. She focused in on the stats window and read off her current standings.

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

Strength: 5

Stamina: 7

Agility: 4

Intelligence: 7

Perception: 4

Chakra: 20

Control: 5/100

**Skills:**

Taijutsu: 2

Ninjutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 0

Bukijutsu: 2

Iryojutsu: 0

Fuuinjutsu: 0

Naruko looked over her stats and shook her head. "I'm not sure what most of these mean, but I get the feeling I've got a LOT of work to do…"

"**For some perspective your stats are pretty dismal, because you're a four year old. For physical stats an average adult would be around ten, a gennin would be around a fifteen, a chunnin a 25, a Jounin a 40 or so, etc. There are of course exceptions such as your father who was incredibly fast, and probably only came out to a 30 or 35 in stamina but would have had an agility of almost 75. But he specialized."**

"So I'm not that unreasonable in stats. What about skills?"

"**Skills are usually around a hundred for a specialty. For non-specialized areas, it depends on your rank. For someone like Kakashi who is an elite jounin, you could expect him to rank in the 50's to 60's across the board, except in areas where he can't be reasonably expected to have any skills, like iryojutsu since he was never taught."**

"So my skills currently suck?" Naruko summed up Kurama's statement. "Makes sense, since all of these require either chakra or intense physical training, both of which I have been denied since I'm only four. So I think I should focus on working on my stats for now. Stamina will probably improve no matter what exercises I do, as long as I repeat them for a while…"

Naruko began to plan out her training schedule. She had work to do, and she need to get stronger to do it.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:**Yay, new chapter done! I am really pushing these out right now, because this de-stresses me, and I had a lull in my workload. Unfortunately I will probably not be able to keep up the pace I am updating at.

I love the reviews, as always, I appreciate both criticism and praise, as long as it isn't rude. Oh and the suggestions are great. There are already two that I have worked into my plans, and one that I wish I could, but which I already had a conflicting plan with.

**Edit:**I made a simple change about when Naruko gets the stat boost to change clear up some confusion. Befriending Hinata and getting the stat boost were unrelated though that was admittedly very unclear. She befriended Hinata, and by clearing the Hyuuga Affair Event she gained a stat boost. Since she did so using her brain (intelligence) the stat boost was for intelligence.

**Edit 11/26/14: **Added another little section at the end but that is mostly it for now.


	6. Sasuke, Training, and Hiashi

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking: **"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

6. Sasuke, Training, and Hiashi

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! SMASH!

Naruko groaned and rolled over. It was just over a month since the Hyuuga Affair. Things had been progressing slowly for Naruko. She spent her days reading, playing (losing) shogi with Shikamaru, roughhousing with Choji, or running around with Ino. She had tried to approach Hinata, but apparently the Branch family hadn't gotten the message that she was friends with Hinata now.

She really couldn't blame them though. Given her reputation, she wouldn't want to be the ones who let her into the compound if she set off a prank. Granted she would never prank the Hyuuga since she knew that the main family would blame the branch family and torture them with the Caged Bird Seal for their failure, but they didn't know that.

She stumbled out of the room in her new apartment. A different one than in the last timeline, and far nicer. The Hokage had taken one look at the address his assistant had set up for her, and had the assistant literally thrown out of the tower. Like through a window. Apparently he didn't like the idea of a little girl living on her own in the slums.

She moved about her morning ritual, showering and getting dressed for the day. She worked her way to the kitchen where she began eating a breakfast of ramen. She had been reading about nutrition recently and knew that she needed to get a way to get some better food or she would never start to grow.

She had a few ideas, but the problem was, without her chakra she was bereft of any of the techniques that she might be able to use, even if she could convince the Hokage to teach her. And more of her reading had told her just why opening her chakra coils early was hazardous. Horribly malformed coils like Lee's were not something she would be able to deal with.

That was when there was a knock at her door. She stood, carrying her cup ramen with her. She carefully opened the door, mentally cursing that she was too short to use the peep hole to check for danger. As she peeked out she saw Hinata and a branch family member.

She opened the door the rest of the way, greeting the pair "Morning. Can I help you?" She wasn't quite awake yet so her usually sass and pep was lacking.

"Good Morning Naruko. I-I haven't seen you since we met and I was w-wondering if you wanted to play today…" Hinata trailed off getting nervous.

"I'd love too! Just let me finish eating," Naruko replied, while gesturing for the pair to come in. The branch member looked slightly nervous. "Want something to drink? Unfortunately all I have is water, I just moved in here," both of her guests nodded their acceptance.

She moved through the kitchen getting the each a glass of water and returning to them. After they both had their drinks, she returned to eating as they sat in silence. Once Naruko was done, they all stood and moved, Naruko being careful to lock her door.

"Sorry for not coming to see you. The guards at your compound refused to let me in." The branch member winced. "Eh, not like I can blame them though, I know what my reputation is like. Though," she turned to the branch member. "I would appreciate it if you let everyone else know that I have declared the Hyuuga compound a no-prank zone. I can only imagine how much those seals sting."

With that she grabbed Hinata's hand and dashed off towards the park while ignoring the gob smacked look on the Hyuuga's face. _'How does she know about the caged bird seal?'_Then his head caught up and he went tearing off to catch up with the two sprinting girls.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Almost nine months passed in a similar pattern before Naruko got another chance to move toward her goals again. She knew that the Uchiha Massacre was her next big chance to make things better for her friends, but she had exactly zero idea how to influence things. She saw the Uchiha clan members around the village a lot, but they treated her with a calm aloofness that prevented any headway.

Then she was playing at a park when she saw Him. Sasuke was walking along with someone she recognized as a younger version of Uchiha Itachi. She looked at the pair of them and smiled softly at how happy Sasuke looked. _'This is what I fight to protect. My family, even if they don't know it.'_

Naruko, who had been playing tag with Choji carefully led the older boy on a chase that had them darting directly in front of the brothers. Both of them jumped back out of the way as Naruko 'fell' in the path, and Choji caught up tagging her.

"Go-(pant)-got you (pant)," the extremely red faced boy squeezed out before collapsing off the path.

Naruko stood only slightly winded. "Ouch, think I skinned my knee there." Then she 'noticed' the brothers staring at her. "Oh sorry did we get in your way? I'm Naruko by the way."

Lately her childish routine was getting harder to maintain. Now that she knew how to train, she had been increasing her intelligence stat rapidly and it made acting the fool rather difficult. Still she supposed it was good practice for infiltrations later.

"Not a problem, I'm Itachi and this is my brother Sasuke," Itachi replied. "I could not help but notice that your game seems rather intense for simple tag." It was true. The chase Naruko had just led Choji on was one of their tamer bouts and had involved darting through a patch of woods, leaping several hedge rows, and bouncing off a couple of light poles to change directions.

"Well, we are both going to be ninja, and this is the closest we can get to physical training at this point." Naruko stood and stretched. "Much more and we risk damaging our potential for growth, but we want to be prepared."

"I'm training to be a ninja too! But I don't get to do much training since Nii-san here never helps me." Sasuke pouted at his brother.

"Well, why don't you join us?" Naruko asked. Sasuke looked at his brother.

"Go ahead, I will watch you for now, and if you want to come back we can talk to Okaa-san." Itachi smiled as Sasuke and Naruko hauled a still gasping Choji to his feet and led him back to the others. _'Maybe a few friends are just what you need, Sasuke.'_

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

The next several years passed in much the same manner. Naruko joined the civilian academy (1) while her friends started their family training. Sakura's mother made her wait another few years, but she continued to meet and play with Naruko. Mostly the academy taught basic knowledge about training and fundamental movements. The dangerous stuff wouldn't start until they were in the full Ninja Academy.

Naruko, now at age 8 had been working with a systematic training routine since she was six. She had examined the complete list of stats she had to work with: Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Perception, and Stamina. She had read that she needed at least one day a week to rest so that she wouldn't burn herself out, and she had five stats so she took a day of the week to work on each of her stats, and played on the weekends.

Mondays were for strength, and consisted of Naruko moving rocks around the woods, breaking logs, anything tough and physical that she could do to build muscle. Tuesdays she ran constantly. Laps around the woods, running errands for old man Teuchi, anything she could think of that pushed her to move faster she did. Wednesdays she worked on intelligence by playing shogi with Shikamaru, reading, or doing practice work from the academy. Thursdays were for stamina, and were surprisingly similar to Tuesdays, but rather than aiming for speed, she aimed for continuity. She never stopped until her body was ready to drop, constantly pushing her limits. Fridays, which were her favorite days, she would get all of her friends together and they would hunt each other through the woods. It was a battle to see who could catch who first, and it was a great help in learning to notice the telltale signs that someone was there.

The years had not been only good to Naruko's friends however. She was still friends with Ino, Sakura, Choji, and Shikamaru, and had even managed to get the message about befriending Sasuke to appear after a month or two. But about a year after the Hyuuga incident, Hinata's mother had died giving birth to Hinata's little sister, Hanabi. Hinata's father had begun to close himself off from the world. The only one who really got through to him was his brother.

Naruko had begun to see less and less of Hinata after that. She had thrown herself into her father's training once she started the Academy, trying to impress him and get him to open up to her. But he simply picked apart her flaws and destroyed her confidence. It wasn't like it was intentional, he was simply trying to help her find her mistakes. But Hinata needed a softer touch than he seemed able to provide.

Which led to the current predicament. Naruko was bounding down the road as she ran to the Hyuuga compound, a place she had grown quite familiar with over the years. The Branch family had practically adopted her, once they realized she was deliberately avoiding pranking the Hyuuga to protect them, and the fact that she was friends with Hinata, who the branch family also loved hardly hurt matters.

The main family still treated her coolly, but there were so few of them if it weren't for the caged bird seal they wouldn't matter at all. Just the thought of that was enough to send Naruko's thoughts in a dark direction.

Arriving at the gate, Naruko bounded through, the two guards waving cheerfully at her, not impeding her progress in the slightest. She ran up to the main family's house and through the open door, slowing to a more appropriate pace now that she was indoors, and began searching for Hinata.

Hinata had been supposed to meet up with the group earlier today, but she hadn't been there for some reason, and Naruko wanted to make sure that she was okay. She finally found her target out on the training field, and what she saw made her blood boil.

Hinata was barely standing, facing her father across the ring, as he ranted at her. "…for the hundredth time, Juuken requires a strong stance. If you face your opponent timidly, you will suffer with our style. You must show force, and counter every blow with your reaction. Again!" He finished with a bellow and moved to strike at Hinata.

Naruko could tell that he was holding back significantly, but he could also tell that Hinata was on her last legs, and possibly injured. This wasn't going to teach her anything, only humiliate her. Naruko darted forward, catching Hinata as she fell towards the ground.

"Who ar…Why are you interrupting our training!" Hiashi bellowed at Naruko.

"**Kit don't-"** Kurama started.

"I am TRYING to save you daughter's LIFE!" Naruko bellowed back, furious. She carefully laid Hinata out, able to tell from her whimpering as she moved that she had several cracked ribs. She stood and advanced on the shocked Hisashi. "You, sir, are an ignorant, arrogant, useless excuse for a father, and a sensei." She glared at the man with such anger that the adult actually felt compelled to back up a step.

"**Kit calm down, you are getting dangerously close to tapping into my chakra and you aren't ready for that!"** Kurama tried again.

Halting a few feet from him Naruko waved a branch family member who had come to investigate the shout towards Hinata. "Your daughter is trying her damnedest to please you. She trains as hard as she can, every chance she gets. And THIS is how you treat her. She can barely stand, and she faces you anyways, someone with decades of experience over her, and you call her 'timid?'

Kurama gave up on calming her down, and focused on repressing his own chakra.

"Further, you fail to notice that she is injured, and you rant about 'our style' when a blind monkey could tell that her body type is incompatible with the fighting style you teach. Hinata is a flexible, not a rock like you. And don't even get me started on the mental trauma you put her through. Yes Hinata is a little shy, but around those who encourage her she hardly stutters anymore. The only time she stutters is with you, because you are the only asshole she cares about, who is too ignorant to realize she is only nervous, because she wants you to accept her.

"She doesn't even think you care about her, because you spend so much time tearing her down, and not once encouraging her!" Naruko finally gave in to Kurama's urging and stormed away, from the shocked Hyuuga clan head, tears angry streaming down her face.

Hizashi emerged from the doorway that a branch family member was now carrying Hinata through. "She's right you know," was all he said. Hiashi looked at the honesty in his brothers eyes, and looked down in shame.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N:**Wow this chapter was hard to write. I have basically written the entire rest of the Part I stuff for this story in my head, but I had zero ideas for this chapter. But I forced myself to start writing and then this happened. And it's not actually all that bad.

**(1**) I am a little confused as to how the Academy system works in Canon, but this is my best guess and what I will be using for this story: Sasuke was supposedly going to the Academy prior to the Massacre when he would have been nine, which means that students attend the academy before age nine. Naruto first tries to graduate at 10 since he graduates at 12, on his third attempt. Also Sasuke is the same age as Naruto, and they graduate at the same time, yet Naruto failed the graduation exam three times before passing, while Sasuke is a prodigy.

From that we can infer that Naruto and Sasuke were both in the academy prior to Naruto's first attempt at graduating a year after the massacre. Given what we know of Naruto it is likely he tried to graduate each year believing himself ready even if he wasn't. So I set up my academy system like this. First there is the Civilian Academy, where civilian born children/orphans interested in being ninja attend to learn about the lifestyle, and are given a taste of the experience before committing and learning anything dangerous. After several years there, 2-4 years most likely, they graduate to the Ninja Academy. There they are joined by the clan/Shinobi descended children who were exposed to the life by their families. They are taught the basics of the Shinobi arts, and their chakra is unlocked. They likely start here between ages 9-11. Civilian children start earlier, since they need more help from the teachers, and clan children come in later.

SO: all that means that Naruto likely started the civilian academy ASAP since he knew what he wanted to do, and started the ninja academy at age 9, once there he immediately started trying to graduate every chance he got, leading to his several failures. Sakura, who was probably less sure of her choice joined later, and came in after him, and knowing she wasn't ready didn't try to graduate till she was 12. Furthermore clan kids like Sasuke probably didn't join the academy until they were 12 and were expected to graduate the same year, since they have significantly more help.

**Edit 12/16/14: **Finals are over and I can get back to working on this. MAJOR REWRITE OF THE UCHIHA MASSACRE IS COMING! Cause I kinda fucked some things up for myself further down the line. Really didn't change much here, thanks for reading!


	7. The Civilian Academy

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 7: The Civilian Academy

Naruko sat on the roof of her apartment complex and stared at the stars. It had been two weeks since the…event, at the Hyuuga Compound. She had yet to see Hinata, and part of her was afraid that she had made things worse.

"**Can't say I fault you for losing your temper, the guy was being an asshole, but really did that fix anything?"**Kurama asked, sensing the direction of her thoughts.

'_In reality, who knows? Hizashi was there, maybe he managed to capitalize on the shock value of what I said to get through Hiashi's thick skull that he's in the wrong?'_Naruko thought back. _'Either way that isn't the biggest issue at hand. We are at least tolerated in the Uchiha district now that we're friends with Sasuke, but that isn't anywhere near the level of influence needed to stop the massacre.'_

Kurama sighed. **"Kit…some things just, need to happen. Stopping the massacre as great as it would be, really isn't within the scope of a child's abilities. Furthermore, stopping the massacre would lead to a whole slew of other problems. The Uchiha are planning a coup, remember? The only thing that stopped them Itachi murdering them all."**

'_There has to be a better solution than wholesale slaughter though,'_Naruko countered. _'I mean I get eliminating all of the adults that were involved, but the children? How many of them could have honestly been involved?'_

"**Most likely that was the influence of Obito/Madara,"**The two had talked, and they really weren't sure if Obito had taken over the identity yet. **"****Or conversely of the council, as they may have wanted to ensure there were no children who would grow up to seek revenge on the village if they ever found out. Which Sasuke did try to do when he found out."**

"_Right. So, we have basically established that outright preventing the massacre is impossible. So we need to triage what we can actually accomplish. First priority is saving children, then elders, then uninvolved adults, if there are any.'_

"**Going through that list I can save you some time. Unfortunately, there are very likely no uninvolved adults. If there were there would have been more double agents and survivors. This isn't the kind of thing you can hear about and stay out of. The adults were either incorporated into the plan and were guilty, or they were killed off. As far as elders go, do you really think Fugaku was able to concoct this plan without the approval of the elders? The elders of a clan hear EVERYTHING, and they would have known it would spell doom for the clan if the plan failed, and would have taken steps to ensure the survival of the clan."**

'_Shit…So basically we are down to children. As far as that goes, the first thing I can think of is simply getting them all out of the district. If they are in public, eliminating them would be a lot harder."_

"**For someone like Itachi, that wouldn't even be a speed bump,"**Kurama countered. **"Furthermore the bigger an obvious change we make the more likely it is that they will catch on and hunt down anyone who is interfering."**

"_So planning an event that would gather all the children in one spot would lead them to simply plan around it. We need something subtle, preferably with little warning, that won't attract much attention even from the villagers. They would just get in Itachi's way, and then shit would REALLY hit the fan."_

"**We need a silent way to kidnap a bunch of people, without alerting anyone that they are gone. That's a tall order. We have six months, but there is no way we are going to be able to move the majority of the children out of the way without Itachi and Obito noticing. And while Itachi might let them go, Obito/Madara won't. He needs to keep up his Madara disguise or else is Madara, and the man is ruthless."**

"_Fucking hell…we don't aim small do we?"_

"…**Well at least things are never boring."**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

The next day saw Naruko attending the academy, and sleeping right through class, much to her teacher's annoyance. Naruko had originally had the bright idea of sleeping through all of her classes, and then training at night, since the Academy really didn't do much for her at this point. She may have been the dead last in her classes the first time around, but she had rapidly learned the information she missed once she became an actual Shinobi.

Unfortunately that didn't really fly with the teachers, who insisted on waking her up every time she fell asleep. Which severely cut down her time training since she then had to sleep outside of class. If she could have she would have skipped the civilian academy all together but the only way that would have worked was if she convinced Hokage-jiji that she had an entire lifetime of Shinobi life to draw on. But that would have opened a whole slew of other problems for her.

It was highly amusing the first time she was woken up, and asked a question about what the lecture was on. Naruko had been quite happy to explain why the Fourth Hokage was feared throughout the Elemental Nations. The teacher stopped her quickly though and yelled at her for showing off. Naruko had just rolled her eyes and tried to go back to sleep with the thought _'Typical.'_

As class let out for the day, Naruko and Sakura walked out of the Academy building. As the only other 'civilian' in his group of friends she was the only familiar face in the class. Technically because he was the descendent of both the Uzumaki and Namikaze clans, he was eligible to skip the Civilian Academy, but he was also supposed to be an anonymous orphan, so no one knew that.

Unfortunately Sakura wasn't much good as company these days. She was susceptible to the pressures of her peers which were primarily civilian children, who had been encouraged by their parents to avoid Naruko. Hence she could not hang out with her new friends without abandoning Naruko. This was fine by her since Sakura was still friendly when they were together and had apologized for the distance between them.

Furthermore, the civilians were almost all airheads and almost uniformly obsessed with 'true love.' Sakura was rapidly returning to her fangirlism. Thankfully she was the only one. Naruko was still friends with the future team 8 and Sasuke, though he still saw very little of the Uchiha. Ino had rapidly become one of Naruko's closest friends. She hadn't seen it the first time around but Ino was almost as much of a prankster as Naruko in her own way. She just chose words as her weapons of choice.

She was also rapidly teaching Naruko about things Naruto had never had a chance to learn as a boy, how to dress like a girl, how to do flower arrangements. That one Naruko really enjoyed, though she technically could have learned it she was too concerned about her masculinity. She had shaken her head at that. She had always loved gardening so working with the flowers was a lot of fun, and the two had spent several afternoons gossiping while tending the plants in the Yamanaka Flower Shop, with Sakura occasionally joining them.

Thankfully, as a clan member Ino was relatively easy to isolate from the fangirlism Sakura was already succumbing to. Whether that would last was up in the air, but Naruko had convinced her to train in the afternoons with her. After saying goodbye to Sakura, Naruko ran off into the village, heading for the Flower Shop. They used the yard behind it to go through their daily training.

Arriving at the shop, she slipped in the door, calling out "Hello!"

Behind the front counter was Yamanaka Asuka. Ino's mother had been very uncomfortable around Naruko at first, but eventually the girl had proven to simply be too adorable and won the woman over. She now greeted Naruko with a smile whenever she arrived. "Hello dear, Ino is already out back stretching."

"Thanks Asuka-san!" Naruko ran out the back door of the shop and threw her bag onto a bench. Walking up beside Ino she began stretching before their exercises. She really couldn't wait to get her chakra opened, it really was useful. Stretching before exercise was important since it prevented cramps, but chakra flow kept the muscles loose and ready at all times so a Shinobi could leap into combat at a moment's notice.

"Hey Ino!" Naruko nodded to her fellow blond.

"Naruko," Ino returned the nod. Finishing her stretching first she began to calmly walk around the yard to keep loose until Naruko finished. Then they went for a run, lapping the block the flower shop was on. After a run of several miles they moved back into the yard and worked on taijutsu by sparring, strength training using calisthenics, and more aerobics to increase their flexibility. It was during this stage that Hinata dropped by.

The usual accompanying Branch member stopped respectfully by the back of the flower shop. Hinata had occasionally joined them in training before so she knew she would find Naruko there at this time of day. However she hadn't told them she would be coming that day.

"Hey Hinata!"

"Heya!" the two girls greeted their friend at her approach.

"Ino," the girl gave a polite nod the platinum blond. "Naruko, I came by to talk to you about what you said to my father." It didn't go unnoticed by either that Hinata hadn't stuttered once in that entire sentence. Hinata had been getting better, especially around Naruko, but she still stumbled occasionally.

"Heh…uhh, sorry about that, I kinda got upset…" Naruko rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. Ino meanwhile was looking on with interest. She was the gossip queen and she hadn't heard of this, so it was definitely news.

"Don't apologize," Hinata held up her hands to forestall Naruko. At her confused look Hinata explained. "Father meant well, trying to push me, but he forgot somewhere along the line just how young I was. In his own way he was trying to protect me. That being said, when you called him out, Hizashi-san backed you up, and you got through to him that he needed to lighten up. Things have gotten a lot better. A-ano," she stopped and looked annoyed. "I swore I was going to stop that. I realized that being timid hadn't made it better. I've admired your determination for a long time. But that event made me realize that it wasn't enough to be determined. I actually have to act. So I've spent the last few weeks studying, and training harder than ever, trying to make the Juuken work for me. And I swore I was going to stop stuttering," Hinata blushed slightly at that.

Naruko grinned "That's great Hinata! If you've been training a lot do you want to join us?"

"I'd love to, but I need to be back soon. Father is going to go over what I have done so far with the Juuken, and help me adapt it further to meet my needs," Hinata nodded to both of them again. "Until next time."

Naruko and Ino both said goodbye and turned to return to training. That was when Naruko saw the Cheshire grin on Ino's face. She groaned.

"So you mouthed off to the head of the Hyuuga clan, huh Naruko-chan?" she inquired sweetly.

"Oh for…Please don't spread this around?" She asked hopefully.

"Of course not," Ino said in the same voice. Naruko knew that meant it would be all over the village by nightfall. She groaned again.

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Later that night Naruko lay on the roof of her apartment building. She came there often to think. Non-shinobi had a hard time reaching the roof if they didn't know about the pipes that made an effective ladder (something that had only been shown to Ayame, Ino, and Sakura), and it was isolated from her apartment, so when drunk civilians wandered by she didn't have to deal with them.

Tonight Naruko was staring at a semi-transparent, almost hologram like screen superimposed on her vision, curtesy of Kurama. Written down were her skills, stats, people she knew and ideas for the Uchiha Massacre.

**Uzumaki Naruko:**

Strength: 11

Stamina: 19

Agility: 9

Intelligence: 12

Perception: 8

Chakra: 27

Control: 5/100

**Skills:**

Taijutsu: 14

Ninjutsu: 4

Genjutsu: 0

Bukijutsu: 10

Iryojutsu: 0

Fuuinjutsu: 0

Her stats had almost doubled since she had first checked them, but they were still growing slowly for her tastes. She had looked into getting training weights, but had been told that she could start using them when she turned 10, which wasn't for another several years. Her skills had improved considerably, but only in Taijutsu and Bukijutsu, since they were the only skills she could train without chakra. She had technically been working on fuuinjutsu by perfecting her calligraphy, but that didn't seem to show up in the system.

'_We need to make the children disappear, but we can't let Itachi hunt them down. Maybe if he thought they were already dead?' _Naruko mentally shot a question at Kurama.

"**Possible, but how do you plan to fake the deaths of several dozen innocents, who are technically civilians without riling up the civilian council and getting them involved? You know they are after your head."**

'_Make it look like an accident?'_

"**Do you really have that little respect for your village's Shinobi?"**

Naruko remained silent. If only there was a way to experiment. She knew from talking to Sasuke that the attack had started late at night, most likely after children went home from the nursery, so there was no way to strike while they were gathered, it would simply draw attention to the district and delay the massacre. And implicate Naruko. Eventually she gave it up as hopeless.

"**Who are you doing this to help?" **Kurama suddenly asked.

'_Sasuke…' _Naruko replied slowly, not seeing where he was going.

"**Then find a plan to help him, and go from there. Once you have a solid chance at achieving your primary objective, consider secondaries." **Eventually Naruko nodded. Helping Sasuke was certainly plausible. Finding the bodies had certainly been traumatic, and being targeted by an unrefined Tsukiomi probably hadn't helped. She would start there.

**A/N:** Finally got this chapter done. Next one should be easier to write, but I don't know when I will have the time to write it. Might be up by Tuesday, possibly not until next weekend. As of right now, I think there is going to be one more chapter before the Massacre itself. Also advanced warning, next chapter is going to be a little dark, but I will post appropriate warnings.

On a different note, I am needing some input. I have decided that at some point Naruko is going to get a summoning contract from the Uzumaki clan. But I need to decide which she is going to get. The options I have so far are: Dragons, Cats (including large ones), Lizards (things like komodo dragons), and Foxes. If you have an opinion, another idea, or just want to vote, send me a PM and I will take that input into account.

**Edit Note:**I went back and fixed some pronoun errors, as well as changing the name of Naruko's bloodline. One of my friends came up with a better name for what I had in mind, and some cool ideas that required that I change it slightly, and since it hadn't come up yet I said what the heck. So no it's called **Kyoshin no Chi (Blood of** **Resonance)** instead of **Shogekiha Sutairu (Shockwave Style).**

**Edit 12/16/14: **Added another short scene at the end to flush out some of Naruko's planning, and explain her thinking a little better. Also, after this point the story is going to be essentially rewritten, since several ideas have occurred to me that I inadvertently prevented myself from using, and also because I just don't like how the following chapters turned out at all.


	8. Naruko's Ninth Birthday

Talking: "Teme has duck-butt hair!"

Thinking:_'Shut up Naruto!'_

Demon/Summon Taking:**"Hmm, I can see the resemblance …"**

Demon/Summon Thinking: **_'I wonder if uses a jutsu for that?'_**

Justus: **Duck-butt no jutsu!**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

Chapter 8: Naruko's Ninth Birthday

Several months passed uneventfully for Naruko. She passed the time training with Hinata and Ino, and when she could be torn away from stalking Sasuke, Sakura. Sasuke himself occasionally joined them, but much like Hinata he was usually being trained by his family in their styles and jutsu which meant he couldn't join them.

Naruko had graduated from the Civilian Academy, and had started the Shinobi academy, where she was joined by the other members of the Rookie 9. The others were much as Naruko remembered them at this point in time, with the obvious exceptions of Ino and Hinata. Shikamaru was still lazy, Choji still ate constantly, and Sasuke had yet to become his broody persona.

Ino had been saved from the fangirl bandwagon. She took her grades and training seriously, and though she still thought Sasuke was the shit (something Naruko found oddly…disappointing), she was far more mature about her affections than she had been. Hinata was far more confident and her training with her father let her dominate the class rankings, especially in taijutsu. She was easily the top Kunoichi since Naruko was intentionally allowing her grades to be sabotaged, and was actually assisting in the process.

Naruko had been searching for a way to justify taking a dive, when exhausted after a late night of training, she had simply skipped class one day. She later found out that there had been a quiz that day and Naruko had received a zero since she had been absent. Since that day Naruko had been determined to give all appearances of having a deathly allergy to exams, and skipped every day one was to be administered.

Sasuke and Ino had been less than pleased by their friend's nonchalance about being the dead-last of the class.

**Flashback**

Naruko was sitting on a park bench resting after a several mile run. She had cut class that morning knowing that there was going to be a major exam that she could use to drop herself into the dead last spot, securing her position on Team 7.

She wasn't going to waste the day, and was spending it training. Based on the sun's position it was just about lunch time, so she would need to get food soon. She had just stood up when she heard a pair of irate shouts turning she saw an angry looking Ino, and an annoyed looking Sasuke storming in her direction.

"Hey guys what's up?" she asked casually.

"Are you aware we had an exam on ninjutsu styles this morning?" Ino ground out.

Naruko faked looking surprised. "Really? Good thing I skipped then, sounds like it was REALLY boring. Probably would've given me hives." Naruko grinned at the pair of them.

Sasuke chose to weigh in then. "Naruko you need to stop skipping classes. Your grades are suffering, and Tou-san only lets me play with you because he says that the way you train is a good example. If you start failing he might say we can't be friends!"

Naruko had to take the shot, it was just too much. "Aww, does little Sasuke-kun, not want to lose me?" she asked in a too sweet voice.

"N-nani! O-of course not! I mean I don't care! I-I mean," he looked slightly confused, blushing like a tomato, then realized that he was being teased. "Stuff it Naruko. I don't have that many friends."

"Flirt later you two! This is important! Naruko I can't have my best friend becoming the dead last, because then who am I going to compete with?" Ino cut in.

"Sakura, Hinata, Sasuke…should I go on?" Naruko replied before turning and starting to walk away. "And who says we were flirting? You're the one who sees Sasuke as a hunk," Ino was now blushing furiously. The pair had followed him and proceeded to nag her about skipping class until the end of the lunch period, when they forcibly dragged her back to class.

**Flashback End**

Naruko lay back on the grass of the training field as she finished the last of her packed meal. Today was October 10th, so naturally it was a day off from the Academy: It was Naruko's birthday! Oh and the day the Yondaime Hokage gave his life to "slay" the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Naruko sighed, and popped the last of a rice ball into her mouth.

She had been eating better since Choji had been alerted to her food problem. She had been eating lunch with her friends over the Academy break, and the others had refused to go to Ichiraku's again. After being thrown out of the restaurant, Naruko had been forced to explain that she was thrown out of most restaurants and shops. Choji and Ino had dragged him into one of the Akimichi's restaurant, where they met Choji's parents. Needless to say all employees at the Akimichi owned restaurants were well aware that she was welcome there. They had also arranged for her to get her groceries through one of the restaurants near her apartment.

Naruko stood up as she finished her dinner. She looked at the training post she had spent the day brutalizing. She wasn't 100% sure whether it would be safe to return yet but she was exhausted. She knew that she was unwelcome at the festival, and was honestly uncomfortable at an event celebrating the supposed death of someone she considered a friend. So she spent the day training at a secluded training ground, where the civilians wouldn't find her, and she could be productive.

She started back towards her apartment, sticking towards the outskirts of the village, hoping to avoid the remnants of the party she could still carrying on in the distance. The party would, she knew from experience, carry on well into the night, but those who were going to get drunk enough to come after her would pass out from alcohol relatively early.

Naruko was about half way out when disaster struck. She had been moving quickly and quietly, using the stealth that had once allowed her to vandalize an entire mountain under the collective noses of the entire village, and had thus far avoided the drunken villagers. Even if they didn't outright attack her they would still sling abuse and occasional garbage at her.

She had been darting between two alleys when the fireworks display started. The bright explosions banished the gathering shadows, and illuminating Naruko for the crowds to see. Now normally fireworks would make a fantastic distraction as they focused everyone's attention skyward. Unfortunately, Konoha was a military village first and foremost. Because ninja used their sense of hearing as much or more than their eyes, the fireworks were set off a good distance from the village.

This meant that they were low on the horizon, and as luck would have it, behind Naruko relative to the villagers, meaning they sucked as a distraction. Since they were so far away, they were also quiet enough for Naruko to hear the screams of "There she is!" and "Get the brat!" immediately alerting her to her being spotted.

"Sweet-" Naruko cut herself off as she took off in a flat out sprint, abandoning stealth. She had sworn off swearing using Kami's name once she realized that she not only knew Kami was real, but that she was effectively their chew toy for the next few millennia. _'Kurama think you can get me a map or something!?'_

"**Already done," **Kurama replied as a game screen slid into place in the upper right of Naruko's vision. It even had a recommended route already marked out for her. A rather handy feature that they had discovered while training was that Kurama could put basically any information he wanted into a game screen. Since he had access to all of Naruko's memories, he could easily draw up a map of anywhere she had already explored. It basically gave her a simulated photographic memory, since Kurama could almost freeze time inside the mindscape while he worked.

Naruko hooked a quick right and then a left, following the route on the map. _'How times change, once upon a time, I wouldn't have trusted you if you told me water was wet,'_ Naruko reminisced in her head. Kurama snorted at his Jinchuriki partner's inability to take a situation completely seriously.

Naruko swore as she was diverted from Kurama's route as another mob was attracted by the shouting of the first. Since the Shinobi quarter (where Naruko lived) was in the center of the village, where the celebration was, Naruko had to make her way past the villagers to get to safety, or help.

Naruko continued to run as more and more drunk villagers were attracted, and unintentionally drove her away from safety. Naruko cursed her lack of chakra. She had always been a stamina freak, and still was, but much of her godlike ability to keep going was chakra based, Kurama's chakra regenerating the muscle damage from the strain of pushing past her limits, and chakra reserves being converted back into physical and mental energy.

Most children who were going to be ninja were taught to tap into their chakra at the academy, and if their coils hadn't naturally opened already, they were forced open at the academy. Naruko's coils had yet to open naturally, and they were supposed to go through the process of opening everyone's chakra next week at the academy. Naruko's Mizuki-teme senses were tingling.

The unfortunate truth was that Naruko was stuck relying on augmented strength and speed, and while Naruko was extraordinarily fit for a nine year old, most adults could easily outmatch her. This was countered by their inebriation, which allowed Naruko to outpace them, and their stamina was shot. But new villagers kept joining the chase, replacing those that ran out of steam.

After about half an hour Naruko was exhausted, she simply didn't have the ability to sprint flat out for hours. That was a Shinobi ability, and Naruko wasn't a Shinobi yet. She needed to get past the mobs, but without a speed boost she wasn't fast enough to outrun them, without a strength boost she couldn't make it to the rooftops fast enough, or without a route they could easily follow, and without she certainly couldn't outfight them.

Naruko darted around another corner, and skidded to a stop as a fresh mob stormed down towards her. She looked back around the corner and saw the old mob still hot on her heels, already cutting off her escape in that direction. Her only option was an alley between two buildings on the left side of the street.

As soon as she darted towards it, Kurama chimed in **"Kit this is a dead end!"**

Naruko swore. _'Maybe I can cut through one of the buildings?' _Naruko darted along the alley, looking for a door she could kick in, but saw nothing. She rounded a bend in the alley and saw a ten foot chain link fence blocking the alley. _'No time to climb it, they'll catch me before I make it over…' _

Then Naruko registered all the other debris in the alley. The adrenalin pumping through her body seemed to slow time down, and she saw the debris like a ladder. _'If I had chakra, this would be easy!' _Naruko cursed in her head. Time sped back up and Naruko drifted to the left of the alley, not slowing down. She stepped up onto a wooden crate, launching herself onto a trashcan, then back across the alley to a dumpster on the far side. Landing on the lid she took two sprinting steps to build her momentum back up, and leapt off the far side, towards the right side of the fence.

As she came close to the wall of the alley she rotated in midair, facing the wall and bringing all four of her limbs into contact, pushing down and away, propelling her back into the air and towards the fence. She threw everything she had into the wall pushing as hard as she could, dragging up the last vestiges of her strength, and in that moment felt the first tickle of chakra shoot through her limbs.

Blasting off the wall, she completed her 360 turn, and grabbed onto the fence, her hands just a foot shy of the top of the fence, just as the villagers rounded the bend behind her. She scrambled skyward, and was halfway over the fence when one of the rioters threw a rock at her. Naruko was in no position to dodge and was struck across the face.

Knocked sideways, and now slightly concussed, Naruko lost her balance and started to fall the ten feet to the ground, when she heard a shout. "**Sen'eijashu!" (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands) ** Naruko felt several something's wrap around her waist and hoist her back to one of the rooftops, where she was gently laid down, and just before she lost consciousness heard a second voice.

"**Magen: Jubaku Satsu!" (Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death)**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

When Naruko came too she was on a couch with a blanket draped over her. Sitting in an armchair across from her was Mitarashi Anko. Seeing Naruko open her eyes and start to sit up, Anko rose and moved around the coffee table between them and put a hand on her shoulder, helping Naruko sit up slowly.

Once Naruko was fully upright Anko, sat down on the coffee table facing her. She waited patiently as Naruko looked around groggily. "Where am I?" Naruko asked.

"You're in my apartment, Naruko. Do you know who I am?" Anko asked gently. Anko was fully aware of who Naruko was. She knew the kind of hatred that Naruko endured, she endured much the same, though she had at least had a decent childhood, and the benefit of being a fully trained Kunoichi. She saw so much of herself in Naruko it hurt, and she wanted desperately to help the poor girl.

"Mitarashi Anko, the Snake Mistress of Konoha!" Naruko answered tiredly. "Someone I can trust," she finished as she sat back against the couch and let the tension leave her. She drew her knees up to her chest, and laid her head back.

Anko nodded slowly and returned to her seat. Neither said anything out loud, but they both knew how much it meant for Naruko to relax herself like that. Anko was in full alert mode, _nothing _was going to hurt Naruko while she was on watch. The little girl had, for whatever reason, chosen to trust Anko and Anko was not going to let her down. Even if they were in her own, highly secured home. Naruko silently appreciated the gesture.

Meanwhile in the kitchen the other of Naruko's rescuers was sitting across the kitchen table from the Hokage, giving a report on the events of that night. Yuuhi Kurenai was dressed in her usual bandage like dress, and was exuding calm and professionalism. Sarutobi could tell however that it was a front put up to conceal the fact that Kurenai was _pissed_. "We arrived just as Naruko turned the corner. Once we determined that the mob was in fact chasing her we moved in to extract her. As we moved in, we saw the alley blockage. Naruko then surprised us by completing a rather acrobatic maneuver I would expect from a relatively experience genin, not a green academy student. Furthermore during the final element of that maneuver, a wall jump, I noticed a chakra expulsion consistent with a forced opening of her chakra coils."

The Third's jaw dropped. That was practically unheard of. To open one's chakra coils, one either needed to mediate and locate their store of energy within themselves, and pull the energy through their chakra coils, opening the pathways and allowing for natural chakra flow, or else have an outside party insert their own chakra into the chakra system, and use their own chakra to open the paths for you. Since no one was around, that meant _Naruko _had forced open her _own _coils. That was physically impossible, unless she had at some prior point had access to her chakra but it had been resealed.

"And before you ask sir, there was no hint of demonic chakra in it. I was there when Kyuubi attacked, I know what it felt like. This was pure Naruko." There went one theory. The Third shook his head and attributed it to Naruko being as unpredictable as she was known to be. "After that she made it to the top of the fence just as we reached her. Before we could pull her from harm's way, she was struck by a projectile from the crowd, looked like a rock, and she started to fall. Anko caught her with her snakes, and I used a genjutsu to snare as many of the rioters as I could. Naruko had lost consciousness, and the military police finally arrived at that point and took over, so Anko and I brought her to the hospital."

"Then how did you end up here?" Sarutobi enquired.

"While at the hospital one of the nurses attempted to administer an IV for 'painkillers.' Thankfully Anko was paying enough attention to notice that the color of the sac was wrong, and when she checked it, determined it was poisoned." Kurenai took a deep breath. "We removed Naruko from the hospital and brought her here, after Anko…disabled, the nurse who administered the IV." The third nodded. "Sir with all due respect, what the hell? I know what Naruko contains, and I know how the villagers think, so why in sweet Kami's name was she not assigned a guard tonight? And furthermore, why was she out there in the first place?"

Sarutobi stood and raised a hand. "To the first, she was supposed to be. I _suspect_ that the order was somehow lost, and that I will soon be needing a new assistant. Again." He sighed. "As to the second, while I have personally ensured that Naruko's apartment cannot be breached by non-shinobi assailants, and even then, she should be protected until ANBU could arrive, that does not protect her from noises. And spending your birthday being harassed and insulted while your house is being vandalized all around you is hardly appealing to a nine year old. I suspect she spent the day elsewhere to avoid the abuse and was attempting to make her way home when she was caught."

The Sandaime sighed again, as Kurenai looked into the sitting room to see Naruko awake and upright. "Now that she is awake, maybe we can just ask her."

Sarutobi walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch beside Naruko while Kurenai took the other armchair. "Naruko-chan, are you feeling better?"

Naruko nodded. "I heal fast, and besides it's not like it's the first time, and I've gotten knocked around far worse before," she laughed tiredly. "Running away from mobs is great stamina training though. I'm exhausted."

"Naruko, has this happened a lot?" Sarutobi asked concerned.

"Every year on the tenth of October. At least. Sometimes they just get drunk and bored," Naruko explained tiredly. Sarutobi swore under his breath, Anko crushed an arm of her chair, and Kurenai sent a venomous glare out the window. They were all aware of the hatred Naruko received from the civilian villagers, and even some of the stupider Shinobi, but having to routinely escape beatings was news to them all.

"Naruko why didn't you tell me?" Sarutobi was now kneeling in front of Naruko, holding her hands in his "I-I could have assigned guards, made a law, done SOMETHING!" He looked directly into her eyes and saw simply tired acceptance.

"Jiji, what good would that have done?" Naruko shook her head. "ANBU are needed elsewhere, they can't be babysitting me all the time, and honestly if I can't learn to evade a bunch of civilians I'm going to make a pretty shitty Kunoichi aren't I"

Sarutobi smiled sadly. "Naruko ANBU might be needed elsewhere, but they are also needed here. From now on I'm going to make sure you're safe. These attempted beatings end tonight. If anyone tries anything like this again, as your Hokage I order you to report it to me." He looked Naruko straight in the eyes as he said it. Making sure that she understood.

Rising the Hokage signaled Kurenai to follow him as he walked to the door. He stepped outside, and Kurenai followed him, closing the door to prevent Naruko from overhearing him. He let his exhaustion show for just a moment. "Thank you Kurenai, you and Anko dealt with the situation perfectly. Naruko was supposed to have a full ANBU detail on her tonight, but somehow the order was lost, a situation I intend to investigate thoroughly. I have known about the attempted beatings for years, but they were quickly halted when Naruko was younger and under full time ANBU surveillance. I guess they started again sometime in the intervening years and were never reported."

"Hokage-sama, isn't there someone in her life who would notice something like that? Someone who would have reported it?"

Sarutobi shook his head sadly. "Naruko is alone. As an orphan she has no clan, no family, and the majority of the adults in the village despise her. Over the years she has made several friends in her own generation, and their parents treat her right, but they can hardly be expected to watch her 24/7." Sarutobi looked away in shame _'I am failing you Minato, Kushina. Perhaps it is time Naruko knew the truth, if only to help her carry on…' _He sighed again. "No Naruko-chan is alone, even with the friends she has made."

Kurenai thought for a moment. "Then it's time we changed that. Anko and I have missions, but I know how much being able to help Naruko has meant to Anko. We may have missions and the like but between the two of us we should be able to check in on her fairly regularly. Spend some time with her, maybe give her some semblance of having someone there for her."

Sarutobi nodded at her. "Carry on then. I'm going to go and ensure the ANBU finishes ensuring all our _detainees _make it to Ibiki." With that Sarutobi disappeared in a **Shunshin (Body Flicker).** Kurenai turned to go back inside.

Naruko and Anko were both sitting quietly in the living room. When Kurenai returned Naruko looked up, "Can I go home now?" she asked, yawning.

Anko smiled quietly at the girl, though only Kurenai noticed. "Naruko, you already got attacked once tonight, and it resulted in a major ANBU action. Let's not risk another, you can stay here for tonight. I'll go find you a pillow." Kurenai replied before moving into the back hallway of the apartment.

Naruko looked slightly unsure for a moment until Anko nodded slightly to her. Naruko then relaxed and leaned back. Anko worked in Torture and Interrogation for a reason. Most people assumed that that was because she was a sadist. That was actually a side effect of working in T&I and under Orochimaru for so much of her life. You couldn't torture people for a living without learning to make a game of things, otherwise you would go completely insane.

The real reason that Anko worked in T&I was because she, like all good interrogators could _read _people. She knew when someone was lying or being truthful, and she had learned how to prod them to get them just where she wanted them. Which is why she knew Naruko felt uncomfortable at the moment. She trusted Anko for…some reason, but she wasn't comfortable with the idea of staying in the apartment.

'_Step one: get her talking' _Anko thought. "So what is the Academy like? Enjoying your classes?" she asked, the first topic that came to mind.

"Not really. The Academy is okay I guess, but the lectures are _boring_. I mean I understand needing to know about dangerous Shinobi and everything, but do we really need to memorize the dates involved of every major battle in the first Shinobi World War?"

"Nope not even a little," Anko replied. She cackled at Naruko's expression. "But memorization skills…Say you're on a mission, and you see a map with another village's entire battle plan marked out. You don't have time to copy it, and stealing it outright would ensure they change their plans. But if you can memorize it…" she trailed off.

Suddenly Naruko looked down, the words of her sensei from a previous life came back to her _'You must look underneath the underneath.' _ She nodded thoughtfully, maybe it was time she paid the Academy a bit more attention. "I suppose that makes sense. And teaching us anything _interesting _would make it too easy," Naruko sighed. "At least my friends make it tolerable."

Anko was glad Naruko had made at least a few friends. After Orochimaru she had had a hard time bonding with anyone in the village, and Naruko likely had it a million times worse. "What are your friends like?" Anko tried to keep Naruko talking, as she seemed to be opening up, getting more comfortable.

"They're nice. Shika's a lazy bum, and Choji eats like a pig. Sasuke and Hinata are hyper focused about anything related to Shinobi, can't blame them with their families though. Then there's Sakura who basically stalks Sasuke, which is kinda creepy, but also kinda cute 'cause you can tell she legitimately likes him in a non-stupid-fangirl kinda way. And Ino, whose…well, she's my best friend, but also…well she's Ino."

Anko blinked. She had no idea who Sakura was, but unless she was wrong (which she wasn't) Naruko had just listed off the heirs or second children of five of Konoha's major clans. Including her own bosses' daughter. "They sound like quite the crowd." Then simply because she was curious, she asked "How do you know this Sakura girl likes Sasuke so much?"

"The little things," Naruko replied. "If it were just a crush, she wouldn't worry half as much as she does about what he thinks. The other fangirls, they compete for his attention, his approval. But Sakura goes out of her way to see if she can make him smile." Naruko looked off into the distance, a nostalgic smile on her face. "She doesn't care if he hates her for helping, just that he ends up where he needs to be."

"It's about him, not about her…" Anko summarized.

"Ehh, maybe we're just kids, and don't really know what love is, but Sakura…seems closer than most." Naruko looked down a sad smile on her face. _'You know, now that I look at the way I acted…maybe my crush on Sakura-chan was just a crush.' _ She thought sadly. 

"Geez gaki, the way you act I'd think you had a crush on the girl," Anko said teasingly.

Naruko smirked at her, "Maybe I did once…but I think I've moved on. She has Sasuke, and if Sasuke ever realizes it they could be good together."

"Hmm, maybe this Ino then?" Naruko's face imitated a tomato and started spluttering. "Hmm so it is this Ino then," Anko nodded sagely. "So when are you gonna confess?"

"NEVER! I-I mean because I don't…" seeing the look on Anko's face Naruko gave up. "Damn it! I don't know! She kinda likes Sasuke too, and every time she talks about how cute he is I feel kind…disappointed? I don't know what the hell that means, but I'm supposed to be Kunoichi, I'm supposed to kill things, not fall in love!"

Anko smiled sadly. "Naruko-chan, is being a Kunoichi all you are? Or is it your job?" Anko sat forward and looked Naruko directly in the eyes. "Ninja are allowed to feel, and have emotions, and live lives. Emotions are what make us stronger, never forget that." Anko sat back, "Besides you're still in the Academy, you've got time. And you totally are crushing on this Ino chick."

Naruko turned red again, and huffed turning her face away from Anko. After a moment (and her blush had faded) she turned back. "A-Ano, aren't you supposed to be, I dunno, upset that I like girls?" She asked.

Anko looked at her. "I'm guessing this is a conversation you've mostly had with civilians?" Naruko nodded slowly. Technically it hadn't been a conversation, but she had overheard Sakura's mother getting into a huff over someone 'coming out of the closet,' which Naruko had since learned meant admitting they were gay. "The thing is Naruko, Shinobi live short, frequently miserable lives. Because of that, we tend to be more understanding of things like that. We take what happiness we can get and appreciate it, not matter the source." Anko laughed. "Besides Nai-chan is my girlfriend at the moment so I'd be rather hypocritical."

Seeing the relief and understanding on Naruko's face Anko sat back, letting the conversation lapse. Keeping a small smile on her face, she thought about her girlfriend, and wondered how much longer it would last. She like Kurenai, really she did. But Anko could read people and knew from the start that Kurenai wasn't really a lesbian, or even bisexual. She was exploring, and Anko was happy to help, but she knew that someday they would break it off. And Anko wasn't oblivious to the looks Kurenai sent towards Sarutobi Asuma occasionally.

She shook herself and looked back across at Naruko. This was different though, Naruko seemed…older, than her nine years would suggest. She wasn't quite sure what, but something told her that Naruko wasn't just curious, that it wasn't the lack of parents. Naruko legitimately liked girls, and there was nothing wrong with that, in Anko's book anyway.

During the conversation Naruko had slowly relaxed again, no longer looking quite as uncomfortable. She had shifted so that her knees were no longer pulled up to her chest, but instead were curled beneath her, her knees pointed to her right, her feet to her left. She sat there absently picking at a nail, while they waited for Kurenai to return.

Anko decided to take a chance. "Why do you seem to trust me, Naruko?" They came from such similar circumstances, Naruko knew what it was like to not be able to trust anyone, to have no one trust you. Yet she trusted Anko.

"I seem to because I do," Naruko replied simply. She shrugged, "I spend a lot of time trying to blend in, so I overhear things. You're the legendary Snake Mistress of Konoha, the apprentice of Orochimaru, branded with his cursed seal." Anko sucked in a breath. Naruko smiled, "The village hates you because he gave you a doom hickey and left you to rot. Seems to me like you've got more reason to hate him than the rest of us. Yet they hate you anyways." Naruko looked sad, "I've got no idea why they hate me, but I'm the same. You understand what it's like to have no one. So I trust you not to act the assholes that treated you the same way."

Anko of course picked up on the lie, but assumed that Naruko simply had a few guesses why the villagers hated her. She would have to tip of the Sandaime, since they didn't want Naruko to get things only partially right. She might end up thinking she was the Kyuubi or something else stupid. Anko smiled at her, and was about to reply when Kurenai returned with the blanket and pillow.

"Found them, sorry that took so long, they were buried. C'mon Anko, we should let the girl sleep." Kurenai interrupted their conversation.

Seeing the tired look on Naruko's face, Anko decided to let the conversation die. She stood up and walked past Kurenai towards the door, while Kurenai helped Naruko spread the blanket on the couch, and situate the pillow. "Good night Naruko-chan," they both said before leaving.

Sitting in the dark Naruko mentally dismissed the pop up message that appeared before her:

**Gained: Precious Person Mitarashi Anko**

**Gained: Precious Person Yuuhi Kurenai**

**HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH**

**A/N: **Happy New Years! And a belated Merry Christmas/Happy Hannukha/Kwanzaa (or other appropriate holiday I missed). Finally got the first re-written chapter done. It's about 2000 words longer so enjoy, I think it came out far better, except for maybe the scene with Anko so let me know what you think.

Also sorry about the slow update speed, thought I would have more time over break but these pesky people called family and friends keep showing up, and I kinda lost all inspiration for a week or two. Wish I could say it will get better, but I start working (hurray for co-op!) in a few weeks, and I have no clue what my schedule will look like yet.

To all my reviewers: Thank you! You guys really make writing this a lot more enjoyable, especially when you tell me what parts you thought were good/bad. Keep 'em coming, I'll try and keep this show on the road.


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